Cuomo’s new pilot plan could be the gateway to Broadway’s reopening – Telemundo New York (47)

What you should know

• Governor Andrew Cuomo unveiled a nation-first plan involving the Los Angeles football team. Buffalo Bills which, according to him, could serve as a way to reopen Broadway and other important venues before “herd immunity” is achieved.
• 6,700 fans will be able to enter the stadium for the match of playoffs at the home of the Buffalo Bills next month; everyone will have to submit negative COVID-19 tests before the game and contact tracing will follow after.
• If the model works, it could be applied elsewhere to help businesses reopen earlier. Cuomo says New York cannot go another half year or more with an economy as tight as it has been.

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NEW YORK – This first pilot in the nation to run with the American football team Buffalo Bills The NFL campaign is underway, and may serve as a model for the possible reopening of Broadway and other major venues ahead of large-scale vaccination, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.

With indoor food service still closed in New York City, with restrictions on risk zone areas elsewhere, and large income-generating events seemingly off the table for the foreseeable future, Cuomo hinted for the first time the pilot plan last week.

The governor said he was looking for potential ways to mitigate ongoing economic shocks until “herd immunity” is achieved. That may take half a year, at least.

“It cannot be that we start 2021 with the expectation that the economy will open when the vaccine reaches a critical mass. We cannot take six months, nine months, 12 months of a closed economy,” Cuomo said Wednesday.

So how do we use science and technology to reopen faster, but smarter and safer? He asked rhetorically. That’s the precise question he says the state Department of Health hopes to answer with a “demonstration project” with the team of Bills, which will host a game of playoffs of the NFL next month. The date has not yet been set.

Cuomo’s goal is to find out what happens in terms of viral spread if a certain number of fans (the Bills 6,700 agreed) provide a negative COVID-19 test before the game, enter the stadium, and the State follows up on contacts afterward.

Coronavirus precautions apply. Fans will be kicked out of the stadium if they refuse to wear face masks, agreed the Bills. The team has also agreed to close sections of the stadium to ensure physical distancing.

The tests will be carried out in association with the BioReference Laboratory.

If the approach works and the game-related viral spread is statistically insignificant, the plan could theoretically apply to Broadway theaters, NBA games at Barclays Center, or concerts at Madison Square Garden, in theory.

Representatives from the Health Department traveled to other NFL stadiums where fans are allowed in and believe the program is viable in New York.

That said, the model has been tested before, and there were a number of concerns last week when Cuomo first described the outlook.

Health Department Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said his main concern was that even if the state can control the test and trace element, the “ancillary events, the parts where this virus can spread, the events in the airport, this is how the disease spreads, so how can we control that? “

Zucker said fans will be reminded to avoid big parties before and after the game to limit that kind of spread.

Bills owner Terry Pegula and his wife, Kim, thanked New York for bringing the pilot program to fruition.

“We miss our fans,” said Terry Pegula. “Any problem that arises as a result of what we are trying to do here, we will passionately try to solve it to achieve it.”

“We are very hopeful that there will be many more games that all fans can attend, and for us to do that, we all need to be safe starting today, even beyond the game,” added Kim Pegula. She sent out an early reminder to fans to adhere to protocol.

If this test with Bills shows that those elements can be controlled, the program could be the beginning of the revival of the economy in early 2021 amid the constant threat of the pandemic, authorities have said. That’s what Cuomo wants to do.

“Instead of waiting six, nine, 12 months to start the economy, can you start reopening the economy safely and intelligently by using rapid tests?” He said. “We can’t wait. We can’t stay closed. But we have to be smart and we have to be safe.”

“That will be the path through 2021, I’m afraid,” Cuomo added. “The vaccine will be the weapon that wins the war, but it will not win the war overnight.”

“What’s a city without restaurants, art, museums, culture, and symphonies? What’s the appeal of a city without it? These are big questions. It’s not about how to fill the void. We have a much bigger challenge.”

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