Nassau looks ahead to Phase Three reopening June 24

Nassau is on track to begin Phase Three reopening of businesses on Wednesday, June 24, according to County Executive Laura Curran and Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

During the third phase, restaurants will be permitted to open for inside, in-person dining, provided employees and patrons wear masks, and six feet of social distancing is maintained between tables. Spas will also be allowed to reopen.

Restaurants will only be permitted to reopen indoors at 50 percent capacity, according to the governor’s New York Forward website. The maximum number of people per table will be 10.

Spas will also only be able to open at 50 percent capacity, with safety protocols. Waiting rooms will be closed.

Seven New York regions have already entered Phase Three. Only Long Island, New York City and Mid-Hudson have not.

Cuomo said at his daily briefing Thursday that he was in a “happy-go-lucky mood” because New York had tested 68,000 people overnight and found an average infection rate of .9 percent — the lowest it had been since the coronavirus pandemic began in mid-March.

New York City’s infection rate was 1 percent, while Long Island’s was .7 percent.

By contrast, the infection rate had earlier reached 20 percent in New York City and 16 percent on Long Island.

The number of Covid-19 deaths ticked up statewide overnight, from 17 to 29.

The governor insisted that businesses must keep up coronavirus safeguards. He issued an executive order Thursday giving local authorities the power to immediately shut down businesses that do not maintain safety protocols. Bars and restaurants that do not can lose their liquor licenses.