Cuomo Says New York’s Private Casinos Can Open Next Week

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today that the state’s private casinos like Vernon Downs can re-open at 25-percent capacity on September 9^th.

Cuomo says casinos must meet air filtration requirements, masks must be worn and patrons must follow social distancing.

Casinos must leave six feet of distance between operating machines.

No table games will be allowed unless and until casinos put in place physical barriers between players

And casinos cannot serve food on gaming floors.

"New Yorkers have done an extraordinary job - we flattened the curve in a way that no expert thought was possible," Cuomo said. "We've made the determination that we can safely reopen casinos with enhanced air filtration and strict safety protocols including mandatory masks and social distancing. This is good news and the right next step in our data-driven, phased reopening which is working."

Meanwhile, Cuomo says 88,000 COVID tests were reported yesterday and 0.99 percent came back positive.

That marks 27^th straight days that the infection rate has been below one-percent.

Cuomo did raises concerns about a spike in cases in Western New York.

The governor says a 1.9 percent positivity rate is "not good news."

There were seven COVID deaths statewide on Wednesday.