With unemployment reaching 14.5% in April and the largest monthly job decline on record, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the state is launching a loan program to help small businesses that were left out from receiving federal aid. 

The $100+ million New York Forward Loan Fund will provide "flexible and affordable loans to help small businesses." It will focus on minority- and women-owned businesses (MWBEs), businesses with 20 or fewer employees, and businesses with less than $3 million in gross revenue. 

Businesses can start pre-applying on May 26 at this link.

Governor Cuomo also announced during his daily press briefing that Long Island and the Mid-Hudson region will most likely be able to start Phase One of the reopening process next week. He said that if the number of deaths continue to decline and if contact tracing programs are boosted, then these two regions are on track to start reopening.

In the meantime, he says the state will allow for construction staging to start in Long Island and the Mid-Hudson in anticipation of the first phase of reopening.

The state now has more than 750 testing sites across New York. The state will also now be launching a new pilot program with 52 independent pharmacies to conduct 7,000 tests a week.

New York saw a slight increase in the number of coronavirus deaths over the past 24 hours. A total of 109 people passed away from the virus in a single day compared to 106 the day before. New coronavirus cases and the number of hospitalizations statewide are still on the decline.

The state will be sharing its contact tracing curriculum to all other states in order to speed the process of tracking and tracing the virus. 

Also, as we head into Memorial Day Weekend: Waterloo is recognized as the first town to host an annual, community-wide event to celebrate and remember veterans, on May 5, 1866. Congress and President Lyndon B. Johnson declared Waterloo as the “birthplace” of Memorial Day in 1966.