BUFFALO, N.Y. (WBEN) - Governor Andrew Cuomo announced new restrictions that will take effect across the entire state beginning Friday.
Bars and restaurants will now close at 10 p.m. due to the rising coronavirus rates. Cuomo said curbside pickup of food only will still be allowed after the 10 p.m. closure. The governor said the order affects all places that have a liquor license in the state, which would also include places like bowling alleys.
Gyms will also be required to close at 10 p.m.
The governor also announced that private parties of more than 10 people is prohibited. He cited Halloween parties as superspreader events and said he is following similar protocols as other states.
"Halloween parties, football parties, just get together and have a party, this is one of the three great spreaders as identified by our contract tracing," Cuomo said.
Across the state, the positive test rate is 2.9 percent. The governor pointed out that without the 4.9 percent positive rate in micro-cluster zones, the state rate would be at 2.5 percent. There were 21 people who died on Tuesday across the state and more than 1,600 remain hospitalized.
"If you look at where the cases are coming from and do the contact tracing, you'll see they're coming from (those) three main areas," Cuomo said.
"What we're seeing is what they predicted for months," Cuomo said. "New York is a ship on the COVID tide."
The new closing time applies to all establishments that are licensed by the State Liquor Authority, Cuomo said. Only carry-out service will be allowed after that, he said
The new restrictions will have to be enforced by local governments, including by the police in New York City, Cuomo said. He said that after 10 p.m., "If the lights are on and people are drinking, they get a summons."
Cuomo shut down all nonessential businesses in the spring when New York was the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States and started allowing restaurants and other businesses to open at limited capacity when infection rates appeared under control.
Even without the early closing time, restaurateurs have complained that the restrictions make it difficult to stay in business. But Cuomo said further restrictions, including limiting restaurants to opening at 25% capacity across the state, may be necessary if COVID-19 numbers continue to rise.
"It's tough on bars and restaurants. It's tough in gyms. It's tough on everyone. It's tough on everyone," Cuomo said. "I would say we are within sight of the finish line. The vaccine has been discovered. It has to be perfected, it had to be operationalized, but we see the finish line."
Cuomo's announcement came days after New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced that bars and restaurants in his state would have to halt indoor dining at 10 p.m. starting Thursday.
