NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday announced that he will have a plan by the end of the week for New York City restaurants, which remain closed for indoor dining while other restrictions are being lifted across the state.
The governor says he will be talking with Mayor Bill de Blasio, health officials, city lawmakers and leaders in the restaurant community throughout the week to come up with the plan.
“By the end of the week, we’ll have a plan on New York City restaurants,” Cuomo said.
Indoor dining was suspended in New York City in December, amid a spike in coronavirus cases and hospitalizations. However, restaurants in other parts of the state, including nearby Nassau County, were allowed to operate for indoor dining at 50% capacity.
Since the closure, restaurant owners all over the five boroughs have been lobbying the governor to rollback the restriction, with many arguing that restaurants do not contribute significantly to the spread of the virus.
Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio have both said they believe closing restaurants for indoor dining amid the spike was the best option given the density of population in New York City.
“I fully understand how difficult it is that they are closed, not just for the restaurants, but for all the people who are employed there,” Cuomo said Wednesday. “On the flip side is how fast this virus can take off.”
While the governor did not provide any concrete plans for city restaurants, he did hint that indoor dining may likely be allowed with 25% capacity. Although when is unclear. An official plan is expected to be announced Friday.
Cuomo said the post-holiday surge in coronavirus cases has ended and most orange and yellow microclusters in the state are being lifted – except for a few yellow zones in New York City and Orange County.
“The holiday surge was anticipated. The holiday surge did happen. But the holiday surge is over,” the governor said.
Orange zones being lifted include those in Westchester and Staten Island. Yellow zones being lifted include Brooklyn and Staten Island and Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland counties.
Yellow zones will remain in place in parts of the Bronx, Queens, Washington Heights and Newburgh, according to Cuomo.
The governor said the statewide COVID-19 positivity rate and hospitalization rate are declining. On Wednesday, the state had a new positivity rate of 5.44% while hospitalizations fell by 60 patients.
Cuomo hopes that the COVID-19 numbers will continue to fall as the state receives an increased number of vaccines from the federal government over the next coming weeks.
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