REGION - The Mid-Hudson Region, which includes Sullivan County, joined most of the rest of the state as it entered Phase 4 on Tuesday.

New York State instituted a four-phased reopening plan amid the coronavirus pandemic.

The fourth and final stage includes the opening of higher education, low-risk indoor and outdoor arts and entertainment, media production and professional sports with no fans.

But movie theaters, gyms and casinos will remain closed during this phase. There are no plans announced yet on when they can open. Beginning Friday, July 10, malls can open in Phase 4 regions as long as they have enhanced HVAC filtration systems and measures in place.

"We are closely monitoring the gauges on the reopening valve to see if the infection or hospitalization rate is going up, and we will tighten or loosen the valve as necessary depending on the data. If we see spikes in data or lack of compliance, we will slow down the reopening valve and adjust as necessary," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.

On Monday, Cuomo announced that the New York State Fair will be cancelled this summer out of an abundance of caution.

The governor also announced that the New York State Department of Health, in consultation with the Reimagine Education Advisory Council and others, is finalizing guidance on the possible reopening of schools in September.

New York State previously directed all school districts to develop reopening plans. A decision on whether to reopen schools in September is expected to be announced the first week of August.

“The Sullivan West School District community joins school district communities throughout New York State in looking forward to receiving guidance from New York State on the re-opening of schools in September,” said Sullivan West Superintendent of Schools Stephen Walker

We are committed to re-opening our outstanding schools in a fashion which is safe for our students and staff. The exact nature of the re-opening is still being worked out, but we will continue to work tirelessly to provide for a safe process in the Fall.

In recent weeks New York, New Jersey and Connecticut initiated travel restrictions saying people traveling from states with high infection rates must self quarantine for 14 days. On Tuesday, three more states were added to the list: Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma, bringing the number of states to 19.

In Sullivan County, new active cases of coronavirus have been going down since the beginning of May.

“Sullivan County's entrance into Phase 4 demonstrates that our region has successfully followed state and federal guidelines, or else our numbers would be much higher,” County Manager Josh Potosek said. “We're not even halfway through the summer, and our active COVID case count is hovering around 10, sometimes dipping into the single digits. That's good news, considering the influx of tourists and summer residents we've seen over the past few weeks. However, we're staying vigilant and urge all our guests and residents to do the same - wear a mask and social distance.”

Each phase in the reopening process lasts two weeks, and Phase 4 is the final one. No plans have been announced yet as to what will happen next.

“Like the rest of New York State, we're waiting to see what happens after Phase 4's two weeks pass,” Potosek said. “There is no ‘Phase 5' of which I'm aware at the moment, but since there continue to be restrictions and limitations on gatherings and business operations, I would expect more guidance to be forthcoming from the Governor's Office and the NYS Department of Health. I hope they deliver that guidance soon, as our economic figures are not as healthy as our COVID numbers. We could really use the boost from more businesses safely reopening.”