We can thank public health officials and the medical industry for the fact that testing for the novel coronavirus is now widely available in New York State.

Two other major tests, drawing as much from psychology as from epidemiology, remain for the rest of us to pass. First, can we maintain the practices of social distancing and wearing masks to minimize the spread of Covid-19?

Second, can businesses, retail stores, restaurants and anywhere else people gather engender a sense of confidence among their workers and members of the public that their environments are safe?

Reopening the Western New York region is in the hands of each individual, Lt. Gov. Kathy Hochul told The News. Hochul is in charge of the regions recovery. People need to continue social distancing, hand-washing and mask-wearing. Essential workers, those they live with and anyone showing symptoms or exposed to someone with the virus should get tested for Covid-19. Its free.

For anyone in those categories, Erie Countys Health Department has a searchable map of testing sites on its website. Niagara County residents have the option of a drive-thru testing site at Niagara County Community College. Covid tests are also available in Allegany, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties.

Erie County received 100,000 antibody tests, and will have appointments available in June. Antibodies show whether someone has already been infected with Covid-19. Its believed they provide immunity against the disease, though researchers are not sure how long the immunity lasts.

Test and trace is the mantra ringing throughout the state. Big Tech is getting involved, though old-fashioned legwork will play a bigger role in contact tracing here.

Google and Apple last week announced the roll-out of their jointly developed technology that health authorities can use to build contract tracing apps, which can notify users if they have been exposed to someone who tested positive for coronavirus.

The apps, which can use Bluetooth signals from mobile devices to identify those who have been exposed to Covid-19, raise privacy concerns over government agencies having access to data from our smartphones. New York State is sticking to its plan to put an army of human contract tracers to work, but that doesnt mean we wont be tracked by tracing apps. Even if Big Brother is not watching, Big Business likely will be.

The private sector is where the devices will make their mark. Technology firms are racing to build contract tracing apps or wearables they can sell to companies, who can use them as a tool to instill confidence in their employees that its safe to return to work.

Employees already surrender some layers of privacy to whomever they work for. Having their phones ping information about possible exposure to Covid-19 is peeling away one more layer, a worthwhile trade-off for soothing their fears about being able to safely enter the workplace.

In Erie County, the number of Covid-19 patients in hospitals is trending downward, County Executive Mark Poloncarz said over the weekend. That puts the county on track toward the second phase of reopening.

McKinsey and Co., the management consulting firm, published an article last week urging businesses to think of reopening not as a phase, but a time to think about developing a new muscle for handling change.

The muscle has to be a fast-twitch one, characterized by a willingness to change plans and base decisions on hypotheses about the future supported by continually refreshed microdata about whats happening, for example, in each retail location, the company said. And the muscle also needs some slow-twitch fibers to set long-term plans and manage through structural shifts.

As businesses of all kinds develop those new muscles, to welcome back employees and lure back their customers, the rest of us need to do our parts to allow our region to fully reopen.

What we have controlled in terms of expanding testing and getting contact tracers, we have but what I cant control is human behavior, Hochul said. Thats why I need the help of this community.

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WNY needs to test, trace and follow the protocols - Buffalo News