Coronavirus pandemic in the US

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott announced today that the state plans to develop and release guidelines this week for a gradual reopening of retail stores starting on May 18.

He said the state will extend emergency orders on Friday that will include additional openings. 

Stores will need to meet or exceed all current safety requirements, employees will be required to wear facial coverings, and everyone must maintain a distance of six feet from each other.

Scott also said that businesses in the first phase of reopening will be subject to an occupancy limit of 25% of their maximum legal occupancy limit.

At present, there are three regions in New York state – Finger Lakes, Southern Tier, and Mohawk Valley — that meet the metrics required to reopen Friday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday morning. 

“Some regions are ready to go today, they just need to get some logistical pieces in order by the end of the week. Some places are very close … just one or two criteria that haven’t been met yet,” he said.

He reiterated that the reopening of businesses would be phased, starting with construction, manufacturing, retail (for curbside pickup), agriculture, forestry and fishing.

Here's a full look at how the phased reopening will work:

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that as businesses are allowed to reopen in some parts of the state, they must take certain safety precautions.

"Businesses have to do their part also," he said.

He outlined some of the changes that may come:

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today that New York's number of new Covid-19 cases has declined to a rate of "about where we started this horrific situation."

"So we see all the arrows are pointed in the right direction. If you look at the number of new Covid cases per day, about 488. That is just about where we started this horrific situation," the governor said.

He said the May 10 numbers mirrored the number of cases on March 19, before New York "went into the abyss of the Covid virus." 

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There were 161 people who died on Sunday across the state of New York, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

He added that the number is "better than it has been."

Of the 161 people who died, 112 were in hospitals and 49 were in nursing homes.

The total number of deaths on Sunday is down from the 207 people who died in the state on Saturday.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the state is entering a "new chapter" of the coronavirus pandemic this week, as the state's stay-at-home order expires on Friday.

He said some regions in the state will begin reopening after the order expires. He stressed that regions will only open when they are ready: They must have testing and tracing capacity in place and show declining numbers.

Vermont Gov. Phil Scott said there have been no new positive cases of coronavirus or new deaths reported as of yesterday.  

More than half of the US airline fleet is now sitting idle, according to new numbers from the industry. 

At least 3,162 planes were grounded on Sunday, representing 51% of the fleet, according to Airlines for America, which represents major air carriers. 

The measure includes planes that have not flown in the last seven days.   

The figure has hovered just shy of the 50% mark for several weeks. On Sunday, the group provided figures that showed 3,046 planes — or about 49% — were grounded as of Thursday. 

The aircraft are not needed because airlines have removed from their schedules 73% of domestic departures and 94% of international departures, according to Airlines for America. 

Taking planes out of service and cancelling flights can increase the number of passengers on a given flight. There has been a slight uptick in the number of people flying as well.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city's schools are still poised to be open this fall, but he noted that officials are watching the pediatric multi-inflammatory syndrome linked to coronavirus as they assess what's best for students.

What this is about: Last week, New York State Department of Health reported some children have developed an inflammatory syndrome possibly linked to the coronavirus. 

"Thankfully most children with COVID-19 only experience mild symptoms, but in some, a dangerous inflammatory syndrome can develop," New York State Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Howard Zucker said in a statement.

New York is investigating if the cases contradict the belief that children are less at risk for coronavirus and what other hospitals should look out for, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.