This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Wednesday, May 27th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.

Read our guide to understanding New York on PAUSE, NY's stay-at-home order, as well as what the upstate reopening means; a look at preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.

Here's the latest:

City Council To Consider Bill To Open Sidewalks And Streets For Outdoor Dining

5 p.m. Two City Council members are preparing to announce legislation Thursday that would set aside space on sidewalks, streets and plazas for outdoor dining in response to social distancing.

Proposed by Council Speaker Corey Johnson and Council Member Antonio Reynoso, the bill would require the city to identify open spaces where restaurants and bars could safely serve customers outside. It would also create "a fast, simple permitting process" that would allow outdoor service to start quickly once reopening occurs, according to a press release.

The legislation, which has the support of restaurant owners, puts pressure on Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has preferred a wait-and-see approach to policies that accommodate the new social distancing realities even as other cities have forged ahead with their own plans.

On Tuesday, San Francisco announced an outdoor plan that will use sidewalks, streets, or parks and plazas for food pick-up and eventually, dining.

Similar to the open streets plan, which called for closing streets to car traffic for pedestrians and cyclists, de Blasio has been slow to embrace an outdoor dining concept. He has cited the city's density as well as the severity of the crisis as reasons he wanted to take his time on such approaches. In April, the mayor reversed himself on the open streets plan. Similar to what is now happening with outdoor dining, the City Council introduced their own bill.

"It is not part of phase one but it is something we'll have more to say on soon," he said, when asked about the proposal during his morning press briefing.

New York City is expected to begin reopening sometime in the first half of June, but the first phase would not include the reopening of restaurants for table service.

"We have a lot here that makes what we do very, very sensitive," he added. "Small steps can have a very big impact when you're talking about over 8 million people and job one is safety and health and not allowing that boomerang. So, I really think it is actually exactly right to say we're watching what other people do; we watch a lot of people do things in easier circumstances and then we decide what makes sense for us."

Cuomo Says He Spoke To Trump About "Supercharging" The Reopening

2:30 p.m. Following a meeting at the White House with President Donald Trump, Governor Andrew Cuomo said he spoke about "supercharging" New York's reopening by accelerating major infrastructure projects in the state.

During a press conference in Washington D.C., the governor cited three projects whose federal approval he asked the president to expedite: Gateway, a plan to build a new rail tunnel between Manhattan and New Jersey under the Hudson River; the governor's once ridiculed concept of building a circuitous elevated Airtrain that would offer a 30-minute trip from Manhattan to La Guardia Airport; and a proposal to extend the Second Avenue subway line to 125th Street in Harlem.

Hastening such projects, Cuomo said, would be a way to bring back jobs to an economy devastated by the pandemic.

Similar to after he and the president last met in April, Cuomo said the two had a "good conversation." He said he and Trump agreed to talk again next week.

The focus on infrastructure appears to be a strategic move by Cuomo, whose repeated request for federal aid for state budgets has stalled due to partisan disagreement over whether or not to fund the mostly Democratic states that have been most hurt by the pandemic. There is currently a $3 trillion pandemic relief bill proposed in the House of Representatives includes funding for state and local governments, but it faces near unanimous opposition from Republicans.

"I think he understands that these are projects that need to be done," Cuomo said, of Trump. "He’s a builder, he’s a developer. He gets it."

During his briefing, Cuomo reported 74 additional virus deaths in New York State, one more than the prior day.

NYPD To Target Nine "Bar-Heavy" Neighborhoods Including UES, East Village, Williamsburg, Astoria

Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on Wednesday that the NYPD will be targeting certain "bar-heavy" neighborhoods around the city as the weather warms up and more people begin to make their way outdoors for drinks and socializing. The nine neighborhoods he named are: the Upper East Side, East Village, West Village, Lower East Side, Williamsburg, Long Island City, Astoria, Hell's Kitchen, and City Island. He added that more neighborhoods could be added to the list "according to what we see on the ground."

This announcement follows several incidents in which New Yorkers were seen buying to-go cocktails from bars and then lingering "to sip drinks on packed sidewalks and soak up the lively scenes," as the NY Post reported. After photos of those crowded areas were published, de Blasio said, “I’m not comfortable at all with people congregating outside bars,” and directed the NYPD to focus on "problem" areas.

Reporting by Ben Yakas

NYC Plans To Reserve 3,000 Hotel Rooms To Quarantine New Yorkers

11:00 a.m. New York City will have 3,000 hotel rooms by this summer to quarantine residents testing positive for coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday.

The hotel rooms are a critical component of the city's ambitious test and trace program, which is meant to identify and isolate new infections. Individuals who test positive are unable to separate themselves from family or roommates will be asked to quarantine in a hotel room for 14 days or until they test negative for the virus.

"For that period of time, we're going to make sure you have what you need," de Blasio said, during his morning press briefing.

The city currently has 1,200 rooms ready to go, the mayor said.

Residents will receive daily medical and mental health check-ins, meals, and laundry service. They will also be able to make free local calls.

Any healthcare provider in the city can arrange for the hotels. New Yorkers who do not have a doctor can contact the city directly by calling 844-692-4692 to get an evaluation.

Asked whether New Yorkers would be forced to undergo quarantine, city health officials stressed that people are generally willing to comply during public health emergencies. However, according to New York City's health code, people can be ordered to quarantine with failure to do so treated as a misdemeanor.

"This isn't a new issue," said Dr. Mitchell Katz, who heads the city's public hospitals and is among those leading the test and trace effort. "It is often necessary in public health for people to isolate and quarantine. In our experience, overwhelmingly with other diseases such as tuberculosis, is that people do the right thing."

Long Island Reopens, Cuomo Meets With Trump

Some Long Island businesses can officially begin reopening on Wednesday, the ninth region in the state to reach the hospital and testing criteria set by health officials.

New York City is now the only part of the state that has yet to meet all nine benchmarks to reopen. The city still needs more hospital capacity as well as contact tracers. Mayor Bill de Blasio has said those milestones should be met in early June.

Under the first phase, manufacturing and construction activity can resume, along with retail that either allows customers to pick up purchases at established areas inside the store or curbside. Social distancing and limited occupancy rules still apply.

Between Nassau and Suffolk counties, there are more than 79,000 confirmed coronavirus cases in Long Island and nearly 4,000 people have died. The region was once considered a concerning hot spot in the state.

In April, hospitalizations for both counties surpassed 4,000 at one point. But like New York as a whole, those numbers have steadily fallen. According to the most recently posted data, Nassau and Suffolk counted 715 covid-related hospitalizations.

“We’re enjoying our 43rd straight day of decreased hospitalizations in Nassau,” said Laura Curran, the Nassau County executive, during an interview Wednesday morning on WCBS880 radio. “These Phase 1 businesses—construction, retail—they are very low risk. So I believe we will continue. I’m very optimistic. Our residents have been fantastic in Nassau County, and I am optimistic we will get to Phase 2 quite quickly.”

Newsday reported that businesses were scrambling to rehire workers as well as install safety precautions like temperature checks and procure sufficient personal protective equipment for their staff.

Speaking on on Fox 5 Wednesday morning, Steve Bellone, the Suffolk County executive, said "our experience in Suffolk County is we've had many employees who are incredibly productive working from home." He added that the county is encouraging the practice to keep density low.

"This may really change the way we do work here," he said

Meanwhile, Governor Andrew Cuomo has made it clear that he wants the federal government to invest in infrastructure as a way of boosting the state's economy. He is expected to head to Washington D.C. on Wednesday to meet with President Donald Trump. In addition to funding, Cuomo needs federal approval on several major projects, including building an AirTrain to La Guardia Airport and Gateway, a plan to build rail tunnel under the Hudson River, and congestion pricing.

Cuomo last met with Trump in April, in part to discuss federal assistance for the expanded rollout of testing in states.

But the Trump administration, which has pushed for a quicker reopening of the country, has said the federal government should be considered “the supplier of last resort” and left states to develop their own testing plans.