Gov. Andrew Cuomo has issued an executive order that allows businesses to deny entry to customers who aren’t wearing a mask. He said it’s intended to improve public health and reduce fights.

Cuomo said the  “no mask, no service” rule is about changing the culture so that people view the wearing of masks in public as essential to preserving everyone’s health during the pandemic.

The Rochester-Finger Lakes area and four other regions in the state will have been in Phase 1 of the state’s reopening plan for two weeks as of Friday.

But some local business owners haven’t yet received the guidance they’re hoping for.

Phase 2 in the state’s plan for helping safely get various businesses and services back open during the pandemic was set up to start two weeks into Phase 1, assuming various metrics can be met on things like new hospitalizations, infection rates and other data.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that he’ll meet with President Donald Trump on Wednesday to discuss an infrastructure program with federal funds for state projects, including repairing deteriorating commuter rail tunnels under the Hudson River.

Cuomo said he believes the state has finally “turned the page” on the COVID-19 pandemic for now, and it’s time to refocus on "supercharging" the economy. 

Local governments in New York will now be required to provide death benefits to public workers on the front line of the COVID-19 crisis, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who also urged the federal government Monday to provide hazard pay to those individuals.

Those benefits will be paid for by local pension funds in the case of local government workers, and the state pension fund for employees of the state government, Cuomo said.

If two months of pandemic-induced quarantine have seemed to stretch on forever, prepare yourself for the longest summer in years. Literally.

A cyclical quirk in the calendar this year welcomes Memorial Day, the unofficial start of summer, on May 25, the earliest the holiday could arrive, and delivers Labor Day, the marker of the season’s conclusion, as late as possible, on Sept. 7.

The daily number of deaths related to COVID-19 in New York has dropped below 100 for the first time since late March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday, marking another turning point for the disease, which has killed more than 23,000 people statewide.

There were 84 additional deaths in New York Friday, the latest data available from the state, bringing the total number of fatalities to 23,282.

Memorial Day weekend begins with beaches opening up, and other tentative steps to restart the economy. Governor Andrew Cuomo says, in his daily corona virus briefing, that the reopenings can be done safely, if people follow the rules.

State beaches reopen Friday, at 50% capacity, with strict social distancing rules. Cuomo tried to tamp down expectations on how many people will actually get a swim in over the holiday weekend.

“Those beaches may reach capacity at 10, 11 o’clock in the morning,” Cuomo said. “So that’s something to take into consideration.”

The Wilmot Cancer Institute at the University of Rochester Medical Center is resuming postponed procedures and turning more to telemedicine amid the pandemic. Treatments are still ongoing.

According to URMC, some cancer surgeries were postponed during a ban on elective surgeries. That ban was lifted on April 29.

As for Roslyn Goldman, 82, she’s been receiving treatment for lymphoma throughout the pandemic. So far, she said, she feels good. 

(AP and WXXI News) New York will allow small religious gatherings starting Thursday as the state gradually loosens restrictions, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at his Wednesday briefing.

Religious gatherings of up to 10 people will be allowed statewide as long as participants wear masks and practice social distancing. The state also is allowing drive-in and parking lot services.