NEW YORK NOW - New York will spend $65 million in federal aid to help child care providers modify and expand their facilities to accommodate a more socially distant model of learning, and reopen classrooms, as more individuals head back to work in the coming months.
The funding was announced as both Long Island and the Mid-Hudson region were given the green light to enter Phase Three of reopening their economies this week.
"As we move further into the reopening and more parents go back to work, we're also making sure child care programs across the state have the support they need to reopen safely," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo.
The funding will be split into two categories: $20 million will be available to help reopen and expand capacity for child care providers, and $45 million will be available to help pay for the cost of a newly opened classroom. The latter funding is meant to be an incentive.
The funding will be distributed by the state Office of Children and Family Services, which licenses child care providers in New York. Throughout the pandemic, nearly two-thirds of providers licenses with the state remained open, according to the agency.
New York is now approaching hospitalization and fatality levels not seen since the beginning of the pandemic, with 27 deaths Monday. That’s compared to 800 at the height of the disease.
Hospitalizations declined again Monday to 1,104 people still requiring treatment. Of those, 204 are still intubated.
New York state returned 597 positive tests for the coronavirus during Tuesday’s round of testing. That’s about 1.2% of the total number of people tested for the disease, which is now infecting more people in other areas of the county.
Florida, which did not have the same experience as New York early on in the pandemic, is now reporting about 3,000 new cases of the disease each day.
Cuomo said, again, Tuesday that he’s considering an order that would require individuals who travel to New York from other states to either remain in quarantine for two weeks, or be immediately tested for the disease upon entry.