A federal judge has refused to block Gov. Andrew Cuomo's order limiting worship to as few as 10 congregants in communities seeing spikes in coronavirus infections.
U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis ruled Friday in a lawsuit brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn.
The judge said that while the restrictions do hurt religious groups, it is not in the public interest to block them if they are helping prevent a potentially deadly wave of new infections.
Cuomo last week ordered schools and businesses to close in six areas where COVID-19 infections have spiked.