This post was originally published on this site
New York regions in Phase 2 of reopening have gotten the go-ahead for outdoor dining as the state reached new milestones in terms of coronavirus deaths and hospitalizations, Gov. Cuomo announced Wednesday.
“COVID-19 is still a real threat,” Cuomo said, but the battle “is going better than it has ever gone in New York.”
In fact, progress is significant enough that al fresco dining in restaurants can resume in the seven New York regions currently in Phase 2 of their reopening.
Restaurants in the Capital Region, Central New York, the Finger Lakes, the Mohawk Valley, the North Country, the Southern Tier and Western New York, can reopen for outdoor dining beginning Thursday, June 4. Tables must be six feet apart, all staff must wear face coverings and customers, unless seated, must wear face coverings, too.
The number of fatalities across the state on Tuesday dropped to 49, a drastic contrast to the 799 deaths that were recorded at the peak of the pandemic in early April. New coronavirus hospitalizations fell to 135.
In total, 374,085 New Yorkers have tested positive for the virus and 24,079 people have died across the state, according to the state department of health.
“God bless the people of New York for what they did. God bless the nurses and the doctors and the essential workers and the frontline workers because they saved hundreds of thousands of lives in the state of New York,” Cuomo said.
While the numbers paint a clear picture of the progress made across the state, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned on Wednesday that the city needs to buckle down in combating the disease as the first phase of reopening, set to begin June 8, is just days away.
“I want to remind people, notwithstanding what we’ve been through in the last few days, I want people to stay home to the maximum extent possible,” the mayor said. “I want people to practice social distancing very, very consistently. I want people wearing those face coverings all the time.”
New York City has seen widespread and densely attended protests against racial injustice and police brutality over the past few days, following the death of George Floyd, a black man who was killed in Minnesota when a white police officer knelt on his neck for nearly nine minutes.
Also read: Black households have 46% of retirement wealth of their white counterparts
“As important as the issues that are being addressed in the last few days are, the single most important thing happening right now in New York City is the battle against the coronavirus. The single most important thing is to help people be healthy and safe. And right after that, is restarting our city, helping people get their livelihoods back,” de Blasio said.
The protests across the U.S. has sparked concerns that the large gatherings could cause an increase in new cases.
The mayor added that the city is prepared to handle a possible spike in new infections.
“Unquestionably, we are worried about the potential for any kind of resurgence of the disease, and I’m worried anytime people start to come in contact with each other,” the mayor said. “If we see some spike beginning, then we’re going to take additional steps. If we see too much, of course, God forbid we could always stop moving to the next phase or even retreat to the previous phase.”
Extra developments from Wednesday:
Apology: Gov. Cuomo apologized to NYPD officials after he called the police on Tuesday “not effective” in controlling protests and the widespread looting and damage to stores in the city. Tuesday “night, his office called and apologized to me, and I know he called the commissioner [Dermot Shea] directly to apologize,” said NYPD Chief Terence Monahan on the NBC’s “Today” show.
Hospitalizations: New hospitalizations for coronavirus in New York City fell to “the lowest number I’ve seen,” de Blasio said. There were 39 hospitalizations on Tuesday, “a tremendous positive indicator.”
