The NYSE will reopen its facility to “a subset of floor brokers” the day after Memorial Day with “vital new safety measures,” Cunningham said in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Thursday after the closing bell.

The exchange shut down its historic trading floor and moved fully to electronic trading on March 23 after two people tested positive for coronavirus infection at screenings it had set up at its entrance. It was the first time the physical trading floor of the Big Board has ever shut independently while electronic trading continues.

Cunningham said the majority of those “designated market makers,” who oversee trading of 2,200 NYSE-listed companies, will continue to work remotely. Meanwhile, floor brokers will return in small numbers first and are required to wear protective masks on the floor.

“Our reopened floor will look different from the iconic images so many have grown accustomed to seeing televised throughout the trading day,” Cunningham said.

Additionally, the NYSE will require all brokers and visitors to avoid public transportation, and they will be screened and have their temperatures taken at the entrance, the president said.

“Working under these conditions won’t be easy,” Cunningham said. “It will require substantial commitment, from those on our floor and all Americans keeping the economy afloat.”

The NYSE is operated by the electronic trading group Intercontinental Exchange, which acquired it in 2012. The exchange moved into its location at 18 Broad St. in lower Manhattan in 1903.