New York Stock Exchange to reopen on May 26, with temperature checks, face masks for traders

The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) is set to reopen on May 26, its President Stacey Cunningham announced on Thursday, allowing a “subset” of traders — who will wear face masks — back onto the famed trading floor.

“Our reopening will bring a “new normal” for the NYSE, hopefully helping chart a path that other businesses in densely populated areas might follow,” Cunningham stated, while announcing the news in an opinion piece in The Wall Street Journal.

Even the biggest symbol of American capitalism proved in March it was not immune to the disease, switching to all-electronic trading as of March 23 after an employee and a trader tested positive for coronavirus, despite the introduction of social distancing protocols, restricted access, and temperature checks at entry points.

No traders or employees will be required to come in, Cunningham added, “but the stream of calls and emails I’ve received suggests it will be hard to keep them away.”