Lockdown fears for New Yorkers as Gov. Cuomo orders ALL bars and restaurants to shut by 10pm across the state as COVID-19 positivity rate jumps to 2.9% (but deaths and hospitalizations hold steady)
- Starting Friday, all bars, restaurants and gyms must close across NY by 10pm
- If they don’t, Cuomo says they’ll be issued with a summons to shut them down
- The COVID-19 positivity rate across the state is 2.9% – an increase
- It is down largely to micro-clusters where it has seen a huge jump in recent weeks
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered that all bars and restaurants across the state must close at 10pm starting from Friday
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has ordered that all bars and restaurants across the state must close at 10pm starting from Friday in effort to stave off the ‘second wave’ of COVID-19, even though deaths and hospitalizations in New York City are steady.
He is also limiting gatherings in private residences to 10 people, and say he may reduce the capacity restaurants and bars can have indoors if numbers continue.
The statewide COVID-19 rate increased to 2.9 percent which is the highest it has been for months and deaths are increasing in some parts of the state but not all.
In New York City, deaths have been holding steady as have hospitalizations despite the rising infection rate.
But Cuomo on Wednesday issued an order for the entire state and said anyone who doesn’t comply with it will receive a summons ordering them to shut down.
‘Losing money hurts but money can be replaced. Losing a loved one is forever.
‘If the lights are on and people are drinking, they get a summons,’ he said.
It delivers yet another blow to the restaurant and bar industry which was only allowed to resume indoor dining at a 25 percent capacity last month after being ignored for months.
Statewide, hospitalizations are creeping back up as is the case count
NYC data shows how the hospitalization rate and death rate is not increasing despite the surge in cases
Outdoor dining can continue into the winter months if restaurants and bars can facilitate it.
Mayor Bill de Blasio, echoing Cuomo’s tone of alarm on Wednesday, said: ‘This is our LAST chance to stop a second wave.
‘We can do it, but we have to act NOW.’
The rising COVID-19 positivity rate across New York State and New York City is down largely to micro-clusters where it is spiking.
They are in Brooklyn, Queens and other parts of the state that are not near the city.
In New York City, the positivity rate is as follows; Manhattan 2.4%, Bronx 5.3%, Brooklyn is 4.1%, Queens 4.7% and Staten Island 4.5.
Across the five boroughs, that gives an average of 4.2%.
Figures from the state department are more recent than those from the city, even when the state information is about the city.
De Blasio said on Wednesday that the city’s positivity rate was 2.5%.
Cuomo was instantly met with criticism from people who reminded him of the gloating book he released last month titled Lessons in Leadership.
It told the story of how he handled the crisis, and criticizes the federal government for its response.
A former Brooklyn assemblyman is selling a spoof book called Lessons in Leadership by King Covidius Cuomo.
All of the proceeds of that book are going to an anti-semitic charity.
Cuomo defended writing his book in the midst of the crisis.
It’s unclear how much of an advance Cuomo received for it.
Critics said it was shameful for him to be trying to make money from the situation when New York has been the worst-hit state by far in the nation.
His last book – a memoir which he wrote in 2017 – sold only 3,200 copies. He was given a whopping $738,000 advance for it – $248 for every book sold.
