Hard hit New York City begins reopening as coronavirus infection rate plummets

Exactly 100 days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in New York City, some workers began returning to jobs on Monday at the start of reopening from a citywide shutdown to battle the epidemic that killed nearly 22,000 of its residents.

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People who had been staying home for months boarded subways and buses as the most populous US city began Phase One of its hopeful journey toward economic recovery.

New York, by far the hardest-hit US city, on Monday reported the rate of people testing positive for the coronavirus fell to a new low of 3%, well below its threshold for reopening of 15 per cent, de Blasio said.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is cautiously monitoring the virus' spread after thousands of protesters, many without masks, swarmed New York streets for daily marches against racism following the May 25 death of George Floyd in Minneapolis police custody, to be sure reopening can continue and eventually bring customers back to hair salons, restaurants and other businesses.

The rest of the state had already entered the same reopening phase without a jump in infections, largely because of restrictions that limit restaurants to serving guests only outdoors and retailers to making only curbside sales.

The left side shows the deserted streets of New York City when a citywide shutdown imposed to battle the epidemic. The right side shows members of the US Army National Guard hand out food and other essentials for people in need at a food pantry in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.