New York will start to reopen parts of the state after May 15, while New Jersey will indefinitely extend its stay-at-home orders -- signs of a nuanced start to a process that could take months and fundamentally reshape the way people live and work.
Nearly two months into the region's coronavirus pandemic, New York released new data Monday showing that nearly 15 percent of those tested had antibodies to the virus -- suggesting as many as 2.9 million New Yorkers may have been infected at some point, fully 10 times what the state has reported officially.
The numbers are even higher in New York City - antibody testing found a positivity rate of 24.7 percent in city samples, suggesting almost 2.1 million city residents could have been infected at some point.
It is that uncertainty, and concern for what happens next, that prompted New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to lay out visions Monday for what comes next, and how.
"Each region is facing its own set of facts. Protecting public health comes first and all decisions will be data-driven," Cuomo said. "As long as we keep being smart the worst should be over."
