New York governor Andrew Cuomo warned on Monday that indoor dining in New York City could be halted entirely if coronavirus hospitalizations continue to rise.
The seven-day average of new coronavirus hospitalizations in the city reached 122 patients as of Monday, down from 163 patients recorded one week ago. However, Cuomo announced that any region in the state that where hospitalizations continued to rise would be placed under new restrictions.
NEW: If after 5 days a region's hospital rate has not stabilized, indoor dining will close or be reduced.
-In NYC, indoor dining would close entirely.
-In rest of the state, indoor dining would be reduced to 25% capacity.
— Andrew Cuomo (@NYGovCuomo) December 7, 2020
“If after 5 days a region’s hospital rate has not stabilized, indoor dining will close or be reduced,” Cuomo wrote on Twitter. In New York City, “indoor dining would close entirely,” while all other areas would cap indoor restaurant capacity at 25 percent.
New York City and its surrounding suburbs were the U.S. epicenter of the pandemic in March, and roughly four percent of the city’s population has tested positive for the illness since the pandemic began.
The potential restrictions come as Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that public schools reopened on Monday, after a break of over two weeks. The city initially closed its public school system after the city-wide seven-day coronavirus positivity rate hit 3 percent of all tests, however the mayor announced the reopening following backlash from parents.
“We have facts now for two straight months of extraordinarily low levels of transmission in our schools, our schools are clearly safer,” de Blasio told WNYC radio on Friday. “This is what our health care leaders say. Our schools are safer than pretty much any place else in New York City. So, I really think everyone in the school community can feel secure because so many measures are in place to protect everyone.”