NYC enters second phase of reopening

NEW YORK CITY: The second phase of reopening begins in New York today, June 23. This allows most of the offices, shops or businesses to restart for the first time in three months. The bustling city, which had been one of the worst hit city from the pandemic, would move towards normalcy with the second of the four phases of the lockdown. The mayor of the city Bill de Blasio has said that the move is “quintessential to New York City” and expects that between 1,50,000 to 3,00,000 people would be returning to their jobs this week. 2,00,000 to 4,00,000 have already been back to work in the first phase of the reopening.

New guidelines are also to be implemented as various businesses like restaurants, salons, real estate, vehicle dealerships, amongst others would resume physical operation. Schools, Gyms, and other avenues of greater public gathering are yet to be reopened, however playgrounds in the city are now open to the public once again. Businesses are to ensure that physical distancing of at least 6 feet is maintained and masks are used at all times.

However, a report by New York Times has estimated that offices are not likely to be crowded again soon as approximately 90 per cent of white collared employees are likely to continue working remotely. Many big firms based in the city like JP Morgan and Twitter are not asking their employees to return to work, with Twitter even allowing them to work remotely forever.

The number of positive cases turning up on the daily in the city have gone down significantly; not going over 1,000 post June 4.