Governor Andrew Cuomo announced May 23 that the Mid-Hudson Region will most likely begin re-opening May 26. That means Westchester, Rockland, Dutchess, Orange, Putnam, Sullivan and Ulster counties join Albany, Rensselaer, Greene, and Columbia counties in the Capital Region in a Phase One reopening which includes construction, manufacturing, forestry, fishing, pickup retail and wholesale trades. "This is very encouraging news, but this makes it even more important that we all do our part to wear masks, maintain social distancing, and wash hands," said Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan in a Facebook post. Cuomo was vague about when the Capital Region might reach a Phase Two opening with professional services such as hair salons, finance and insurance, retail, administrative support, real estate and rental leasing restarting. “Phase Two is more a judgment call of when have the numbers stabilized,” Cuomo said at his May 23 press conference. “Can you explain an increase, or is the increase problematic?” Columbia County held steady with 360 cases of COVID-19 May 23, but added one more death. Greene County added three more coronavirus cases on May 23, for a total of 263.