Social media has been buzzing over reports the order that closed all non-essential businesses has been extended until the first week of June.

On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced regions can start to reopen on May 15 if a number of guidelines are met.

Once a region meets the criteria to reopen businesses will reopen in four phases.

The goal of reopening the state by region in phases is to get people back to work and ease social distancing guidelines without causing a second wave of the virus to overwhelm the healthcare system.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the order until June 6, only if regions haven't met the metrics to reopen. Regions can still start to reopen on or around May 15 if that particular region has reached the reopening criteria, officials say.

"NY ON PAUSE was NOT extended to June 6," Secretary to Gov. Cuomo Melissa DeRosa tweeted on Saturday. "Yesterday's Executive Order extended the underlying legal authority for the executive order BUT did not change the text of any of the directives in NY ON PAUSE & so the expiration date on May 15 still stands until further notice."

Cuomo said based on CDC recommendations, regions must experience a 14-day decline in hospitalizations and deaths on a 3-day rolling average. Regions with few COVID cases cannot exceed 15 new total cases or 5 new deaths on a 3-day rolling average. A region must have fewer than two new COVID patients admitted per 100,000 residents per day. As of this writing, no region has hit all the metrics needed to start reopening on May 15, according to the New York State regional tracking page. 

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