New York reimposes restrictions and more may follow
For months, the virus seemed relatively contained in and around New York City, despite clusters in Brooklyn and Queens. But now, as cases rise sharply, a potential second wave has New Yorkers on edge.
In a bid to avoid the devastation of the spring, when thousands of people died, Gov. Andrew Cuomo today reimposed restrictions across the state. Beginning Friday, private indoor gatherings will be limited to 10 people — including in private homes — and gyms, bars and restaurants must close nightly at 10 o’clock. (Restaurants can continue to provide takeout after 10 p.m. but only for food.)
Unlike in the spring, when New York was the epicenter of the pandemic, the jump in cases this time arrives as the virus is surging around the country. It’s not just Mr. Cuomo who is raising alarm — governors from coast to coast are issuing dire warnings and begging people to take the virus seriously. For the first time, new cases surpassed 139,000 Tuesday, and 61,964 people were hospitalized across the country with Covid-19, a number higher than at any point during the pandemic.
“We’re seeing a national and global Covid surge,” Mr. Cuomo said. “And New York is a ship on the Covid tide.”
In New York City, the seven-day positivity rate was at 2.5 percent, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio, a rate not seen since early June, when nonessential businesses began to reopen. Elsewhere in the region, new limits are being put in place, just in time to damper any illusions of large family gatherings for Thanksgiving.
In Connecticut, which has 548 patients hospitalized, its highest total since May, the governor limited all private gatherings in the state to 10 people and has allowed the hardest-hit municipalities to reimpose limits on other businesses.
In New Jersey, Gov. Philip D. Murphy has put new limits on indoor dining that begin tomorrow night after hospitalizations there more than doubled in the last month, from 653 to 1,801 — a threshold last crossed in June.
The New York Times