Residents Can Now View Where Ulster County and the Mid-Hudson Region Stand In Relation to Governor Cuomo’s Reopening Plan Metrics

County Executive Ryan to Hold Small Business Town Hall on Friday to Discuss Ulster County’s Reopening Metrics and the Mid-Hudson Control Room 

KINGSTON, N.Y. - Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan today announced updates to the Ulster County COVID-19 dashboard. The relaunched site now allows users to see where Ulster County and the broader Mid-Hudson Region stand in relation to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s phased reopening plan. Launched on March 24th, Ulster County was among the first counties in New York State and the first in the Hudson Valley to create a dashboard that made their COVID-19 case numbers and locations available online to the public. 

Under the guidelines established by Governor Andrew Cuomo, regions must meet 7 criteria in order to be allowed to start opening certain businesses. Currently, Ulster County meets 7 of 7 and the Mid-Hudson Region meets 5 of the 7. The Mid-Hudson Region includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Rockland, Sullivan, Ulster, and Westchester counties. Under Governor Andrew Cuomo’s plan, regions that meet all 7 criteria are allowed to open certain businesses. The Phase One reopening plan would allow for construction, manufacturing, retail (curbside pickup), wholesale trade, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting. 

“Throughout this process we have made every effort to keep the public informed on the rapidly changing public health situation in Ulster County and our region. While we start to transition from the immediate public health crisis to discussing how we can safely and responsibly reopen our area, it is imperative that we maintain the same level of transparency,” County Executive Pat Ryan said. “I am proud of the progress Ulster County has made toward meeting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s guidelines for Phase One opening, but the Mid-Hudson Region as a whole still has work to do before the State will permit anyone to reopen. In the coming days I will be speaking with our local businesses and work to establish additional resources for our business community and our residents to ensure a safe transition once New York State allows us to start opening.”

County Executive Pat Ryan will convene a Small Business Virtual Town Hall this Friday at 11am to further discuss the metrics, answer questions, and talk about how Ulster County plans to assist local businesses in safely reopening.   

Metrics to Establish Phase One Reopening: 

Metric #1—Decline in Total Hospitalizations. Region must show a sustained decline in the three-day rolling average of total net hospitalizations (defined as the total number of people in the hospital on a given day) over the course of a 14-day period. Alternatively, regions can satisfy this metric if the daily net increase in total hospitalizations (measured on a 3-day rolling average basis) has never exceeded 15. The first number in this cell represents the number of consecutive days of decline in the three-day rolling average of total net hospitalizations; if this number is 14 or greater the region automatically satisfies this metric. The second number represents the maximum daily net increase in total hospitalizations measured on a three day rolling average that the region has experienced; if this number is 15 or less the region automatically satisfies this metric.

Metric #2—Decline in Deaths. Region must show a sustained decline in the three-day rolling average of daily hospital deaths over the course of a 14-day period. Alternatively, regions can satisfy this metric if the three-day rolling average of daily new hospital deaths has never exceeded 5. The first number in this cell represents the number of consecutive days of decline in the three-day rolling average of daily hospital deaths; if this number is 14 or greater the region automatically satisfies this metric. The second number represents maximum daily increase in the three-day rolling average of new hospital deaths that the region has experienced; if this number is 5 or less the region automatically satisfies this metric.

Metric #3—New Hospitalizations. Region must experience fewer than 2 new hospitalizations per 100,000 residents, measured on a three-day rolling average. New hospitalizations include both new admissions and prior admissions subsequently confirmed as positive COVID cases.

Metric #4—Hospital Bed Capacity. Regions must have at least 30% of their hospital beds available.

Metric #5—ICU Bed Capacity. Regions must have at least 30% of their ICU beds available.

Metric #6—Diagnostic Testing Capacity. Average daily diagnostic testing over the past 7 days must be sufficient to conduct 30 tests per 1,000 residents per month.

Metric #7—Contact Tracing Capacity. Number of contact tracers in each region must meet thresholds set by the Department of Health, in collaboration with the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health and Vital Strategies.

Phase One Business Details: 

Phase One: Construction

• Building Equipment Contractors

• Building Finishing Contractors

• Foundation, Structure, and Building Exterior Contractors

• Highway, Street and Bridge Construction

• Land Subdivision 

• Nonresidential Building Construction

• Residential Building Construction

• Utility System Construction

Phase One: Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing & Hunting

• Greenhouse, Nursery, and Floriculture Production

• Other Animal Production

• Other Crop Production

• Support Activities for Animal Production

• Support Activities for Crop Production

• Support Activities for Forestry

Phase One: Retail Trade (curbside pick-up service only)

• Clothing Stores

• Direct Selling Establishments

• Electronics and Appliance Stores

• Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses

• Furniture and Home Furnishing Stores

• Florists

• General Merchandise Stores

• Health and Personal Care Stores

• Jewelry, Luggage, and Leather Goods Stores

• Lawn and Garden Equipment and Supplies Stores

• Office Supplies, Stationery, and Gift Stores

• Used Merchandise Stores

• Shoe Stores

• Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument and Book Stores

• Other Miscellaneous Store Retailers

Phase One: Manufacturing

• Apparel Manufacturing

• Computer and Electronic Product Manufacturing

• Electric Lighting Equipment Manufacturing

• Fabricated Metal Product Manufacturing

• Furniture and Related Product Manufacturing

• Leather and Allied Product Manufacturing

• Machinery Manufacturing

• Nonmetallic Mineral Product Manufacturing

• Paper Manufacturing

• Petroleum and Coal Products Manufacturing

• Plastics and Rubber Products Manufacturing

• Printing and Related Support Activities

• Textile Mills

• Textile Product Mills

• Wood Product Manufacturing

• Other Miscellaneous Manufacturing

Phase One: Wholesale Trade

• Apparel, Piece Goods, and Notions Merchant Wholesalers

• Chemical and Allied Products Merchant Wholesalers

• Furniture and Home Furnishing Merchant Wholesalers

• Household Appliances and Electrical and Electronic Goods Merchant Wholesalers

• Machinery, Equipment, and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers

• Metal and Mineral (except Petroleum) Merchant Wholesalers

• Paper and Paper Product Merchant Wholesalers

• Professional and Commercial Equipment and Supplies Merchant Wholesalers

• Wholesale Electronic Markets and Agents and Brokers

• Miscellaneous Durable Goods Merchant Wholesalers

• Miscellaneous Nondurable Goods Merchant Wholesalers

There are currently 1,533 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Ulster County and 62 fatalities. 

For additional information about COVID-19, please visit: 

https://ulstercountyny.gov/coronavirus

Ulster County COVID-19 Hotline: 845-443-8888

NYS Coronavirus Information Hotline: 888-364-3065

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