ALBANY — Random testing that indicates a low percentage of people in many upstate communities have been infected with COVID-19 will be a key factor in beginning to reopen certain regions of the state next month, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said.

Some regions will be allowed to begin reopening when his order shutting down businesses and schools expires on May 15, the governor said Monday, but the protocols for how to do that are still being worked out. Harder-hit areas, including New York City, are likely to continue operating under the restrictions.

"We have to be smart — because if we are not smart, you will see that infection rate go right back to where it was ... 58 days ago," he said during his daily coronavirus task force briefing. "Testing is one of the main monitors."

But Cuomo cautioned that reopening will be a measured and careful process. "I don't want just to do reopening," he said. "This is one of those moments, if you look back in history, sometimes it takes a crisis to wake people up ... to accept change."

Infographic: How does contact tracing work?

Latest coronavirus-related cancellations, postponements

The latest coronavirus numbers in NY

Sign up for the Times Union coronavirus newsletter

Full coronavirus coverage

More than 7,500 people have been randomly tested across the state in the past two weeks to determine if they carry antibodies for COVID-19, a sign that they had been infected but recovered. Many of those individuals never had symptoms of the flu-like illness.

The antibody tests indicate significantly lower rates of infection in many upstate regions, including 2.1 percent in the Capital Region, 1.2 percent in the North Country, and 2.6 percent in the Mohawk Valley. Other areas have had much higher rates of infection, Cuomo said, including western New York (7.1 percent), the Hudson Valley (10.4 percent) and the primary hot spot, New York City (25 percent).

Statewide, the ongoing antibody tests indicate that nearly 15 percent of New Yorkers may have been infected.

The governor said the state will deploy a tracing system before reopening that will rely, in part, on more than 30,000 medical students who would be tasked with helping track down anyone who may have had contact with a person infected with COVID-19. Former New York City mayor and presidential candidate Michael Bloomberg is helping coordinate that effort.

Cuomo said an executive order that's been in place since March 20 and has shut down non-essential businesses and schools will be extended and remain in effect "in many parts of the state" beyond May 15.

"You could make the case that we should 'un-pause' on May 15. ... But we have to be smart about it," he added, referring to the executive order he dubbed "New York on PAUSE."

The regional reopenings will begin with construction businesses and include monitoring a region's hospitalization rates, antibody testing results and the ongoing rate of infection. It may also be linked to the essential nature of a business, and whether steps can be taken to minimize contact and clean surfaces.

Cuomo said he spoke to President Donald J. Trump on Monday morning about the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 cases in the fall, "which could be problematic again for the hospital capacity. ... I spoke to the president about leaving (temporary hospitals) in place until we get through the flu season."

But the governor said the 2,500-bed makeshift hospital at the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center in Manhattan and another temporary hospital at the Westchester Convention Center may be dismantled sooner, allowing them to reopen for other purposes, although no final decision has been made on when to shut down those makeshift hospitals. For now, those facilities — and another at SUNY Stony Brook on Long Island — will remain intact through the fall.

Food banks, which are struggling to keep pace with the number of people who need assistance during the pandemic, will receive products from upstate farms that will be purchased by the state. Due to agricultural regulations, many farmers had been forced in recent weeks to dump their products, including milk.

"We have people downstate who need food; we have farmers upstate who can't sell their product. We have to put those two things together. It's just common sense," Cuomo said. " ... We're also immediately to stop this dumping of milk, going to work with industries in our state who can use the milk and get it to people who need it."

Last year, through a program called Harvest for All, New York farmers donated more than 7 million pounds of food to regional food banks across the state.

“Gov. Cuomo provided some much-needed good news today for the state’s farmers and our partners looking to feed fellow New Yorkers in need," said Farm Bureau President David Fisher.