New York State will implement a new series of restrictions in areas of the state that have experienced spikes in the COVID-19 infection rate in recent weeks, including new limits on houses of worship, nonessential businesses and schools.
The plan, announced in Albany by Gov. Andrew Cuomo, will divide those hotspots into three categories, each of which vary in the severity of those restrictions.
The most severe limits will be placed in the actual hotspot clusters, which have popped up in recent weeks in Brooklyn, Queens, Orange County and Rockland County. But the communities surrounding those clusters will also see their reopening rolled back for a few weeks.
“We have mapping software where you can see exactly where the cluster is,” Cuomo said. “That’s the highest density of cases, that’s where you have to make the most dramatic action. The surrounding area is where that cluster is going to seep.”
The state has been tracking 20 hotspot zip codes to monitor the progress of their infection rate in recent weeks. As of Monday, the latest data available, the collective infection rate in those 20 zip codes was 5.5%. The statewide infection rate was up to 1.45%.
But the cluster areas won’t be defined by zip code, Cuomo said. Instead, they’ll use testing data to draw the lines where the most severe restrictions should be placed.
In the most severely restricted zones, mass gatherings will be prohibited and nonessential businesses will be closed. Restaurants will be limited to takeout and delivery only, and schools will be closed. Houses of worship will have to limit their capacity to 25%.
In the areas directly outside those zones, only mass gatherings of 10 people or less will be allowed and high-risk nonessential businesses, like gyms and personal care, will be closed. Indoor dining will be prohibited, and outdoor dining will be limited to four people per table.
Houses of worship in those areas will be limited to 33%. That’s to avoid people from traveling directly outside the affected cluster to attend a mass religious gathering, Cuomo said. Schools will also be closed in those areas.
In a third area outside the cluster, which would theoretically not be experiencing a spike in cases, nonessential businesses will be allowed to remain open, and indoor dining will be limited to four people per table. Mass gatherings will be limited to 25 people.
Schools will be open in those areas, but there will be mandatory weekly COVID-19 tests for students and staff. Houses of worship will be limited to 50% capacity in those areas, Cuomo said.
The actual lines where each zone will start will be drawn by the state, in consultation with local governments, and placed in effect by Friday, Cuomo said. They’ll be in place for two weeks, at which point the state will reevaluate the strategy.
Fines for organizers of mass gatherings will also now be increased to $15,000, Cuomo said. That includes religious mass gatherings.
Cuomo said he spoke earlier Tuesday with leaders from the Orthodox Jewish community, which has large populations within some of the state’s current hotspot clusters. Those leaders said they would help the state enforce the new rules.
“I asked for them to work with me to follow these guidelines, and that was positively received,” Cuomo said.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio had asked Cuomo and the state government to approve a plan that would close nonessential businesses in the hotspot zip codes just a few minutes before the governor announced the new strategy Tuesday.
De Blasio had first asked Cuomo for permission to close schools and businesses in the areas on Sunday, but Cuomo has since been resistant to go along with the mayor’s request, instead opting to create his own strategy for tamping down the clusters.
“Legally, the mayor has no authority to do this,” Cuomo said. “You have to be smart and you have to have a plan that's going to work and not just a plan for the sake of a plan.”
