Good afternoon, I’m Dignelly Torres and this is your NCC News podcast. Today is Thursday, June 25 and these are the stories NCC News is covering.
Central New York is a day away from entering phase four of reopening after the pandemic hit the state several months ago.
Governor Andrew Cuomo gave the green light for bigger social gatherings up to 50 people.
On Friday, businesses in arts, education and entertainment will be able to restart.
However, Governor Cuomo said movie theaters, gyms and malls will continue to be closed.
And with phase four, weddings are able to restart in Central New York following the new guidelines of social gathering up to 50 people. What does this mean for the owner of Sky Armory in Downtown Syracuse?
Our Gabrielle Riles spoke with Kevin Somalis. He says he had four weddings canceled and others re-scheduled for the fall or next year due to the pandemic.
Kevin Somalis
“We lost about 400 thousand in sales revenue.”
Somalis says he was expecting an increase of 40 percent in bookings for this year. He says that’s not possible anymore due to the coronavirus.
And… how are Scientists tracking down the coronavirus in Syracuse? By testing wastewater.
But is not new the use of these technique. Our reporter Michelle Knezovic spoke with Epidemiologist Dr. David Larsen from Syracuse University. He says viral particles can be found in our feces. Dr. Larsen says they take samples of waste waters.
Dr. Larsen
“We take samples all the time and then watch the trend. And you can see it. It might go up or go down. And in Onondaga County we see it come down.”
Dr. Larsen is one of the scientists tracking the virus in wastewater with scientists from SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry and Upstate Medical.
Since the pandemic started, traveling industry experienced a high decrease in passengers and the economy fell. Syracuse airport had about 8,600 passengers a month. Now, the airport is receiving around 25 thousand passengers a month.
Our reporter D’Andre Henderson spoke with Andrew Schemerehorn. He is traveling to Los Angeles to see his family and go back to work.
Schemerehorn says they are allowing too many people to travel in the airplanes.
Andrew Schemerehorn
“It’s not possible to social distance with the way they’re doing these flight.”
And the N-F-L preseason usually begins with the Hall of Fame game. This year, the Pro Football Hall of Fame will announce its cancellation due to the coronavirus. It was scheduled to start on August sixth.
For some of the full stories of what’s happening in Central New York, visit our website NCC News Online dot com. I’m Dignelly Torres and this has been your
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — Click “play” above to hear today’s podcast on the stories NCC News is covering for Thursday, June 25.
