The Democratic governor said on Friday that restaurants and bars can stay open from Sunday until 11pm. The state’s restaurant industry has made efforts to loosen the previous shutdown, which was 10 p.m.
“By relaxing curfews, operators can comfortably seat at 9pm, bringing in business that was previously cut,” Melissa Fleischut, president and CEO of the New York State Restaurant Association said in a statement.
The announcement comes after one earlier this week said that New York City restaurants could reopen indoors at 25% capacity starting Friday to coexist with existing outdoor dining. Eating indoors had been banned since mid-December, when COVID-19 cases started to rise.
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Cuomo had said industry groups representing restaurateurs had asked for the ban on indoor dining to be lifted in February to allow them to make money on Valentine’s Day. He has also allowed New York City and counties statewide to vaccinate restaurant workers, although many county executives say they don’t have the supplies.
“If we keep infections and vaccinations under control, we will continue to lead the race against this invisible enemy,” said Cuomo.
While relaxing restrictions is a step in the right direction for many bars and restaurants, some wonder if it’s too little too late.
“We’re currently allowed to have 18.5 people in and that’s not going to pay rent, it’s not going to pay your electricity and it’s not about the staff,” said bar and restaurant owner Lauren Brie Lynch.
As New York City eating restrictions have eased Friday, parts of the city are seeing signs of a resurgence: The Bronx, Queens and Staten Island collectively have an average of about 2,580 new cases each day for the seven days through Thursday. That is 16% more than the previous seven days.
Cuomo announced this week that large indoor and outdoor arenas and stadiums could reopen at a capacity of 10%, despite concerns from public health experts over the safety of large indoor gatherings where people can talk and eat loudly. He has said the state will allow COVID-19 weddings until March 15, although counties and wedding venues are still awaiting state guidelines.
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Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday that the state’s daily COVID positivity rate has fallen to 3.46%, the lowest since Nov. 25. The state’s 7-day mean positivity rate has also fallen to 3.90%, which is the first time the rate has dropped below 4% since November. 30.
In addition, the state also reported a drop in hospital admissions to 6,888. Unfortunately, 125 deaths were reported.
State health officials said New York City has seen an overall drop in the number of cases since a peak in mid-January, but be warned that COVID-19 is still widespread. More than half a million people have tested positive in New York so far, while hospitals and nursing homes have reported that nearly 6,700 people have died.
“People don’t necessarily understand how much COVID we saw in the fall and winter of the past year and how bad we still are,” said Byron Backenson, acting director of the communicable diseases agency of the New York State Department of Health. , said Thursday in an online discussion with national health care providers.
New York now has the second highest number of new COVID-19 cases per capita for the past seven days in the country, behind only South Carolina, according to data collected by The Associated Press.
And while much of the nation is seeing double digits in new COVID-19 cases, New York is one of 12 states where the seven-day average of new cases is roughly flat compared to seven days ago, according to The COVID Tracking Project.
Cuomo has emphasized that New York’s numbers reflect that it is doing more tests than any other state. New York has reported the fifth-highest number of test results per 100,000 residents, and the second-highest number of test results after California, according to data from AP.
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