NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Bars and restaurants in New York State may remain open until 11 p.m. beginning next week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday.
In a press release, the governor said the state will be extending the curfew on Sunday, Feb. 14. The current curfew is set to 10 p.m.
“Our decisions are based on science and data and we adjust as the virus adjusts. The infection rate and hospitalizations have continued to significantly decline,” Cuomo said in a statement. “Accordingly, we have adjusted with arena and catering hall openings with rigorous testing and limited capacity indoor dining openings in New York City. We will also move the restaurant and bar closing hour from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. statewide on Sunday. We will continue to follow the science and react accordingly. If we keep the infections down and vaccinations up, we will continue to stay ahead in the footrace against this invisible enemy.”
The announcement came on the same day that restaurants reopened for indoor dining in New York City. The reopening was originally supposed to happen on Sunday but, was moved up at the request of business owners.
"They have made the point that they'd like to open a couple of days earlier so they can be ready for Valentine's Day, get the staff oriented, get supplies into the restaurants and that's a reasonable request," Cuomo said during his Monday briefing. "They can go to 25% on Friday and they'll be ready for that weekend and for Valentine's Day."
Gov. Cuomo says that New York is making significant progress in the battle against COVID-19, noting that the 7-day average positivity rate has fallen to 4.04%.
Hospitalizations in the state also fell by 274 patients, while COVID-19-related deaths also continued to decline.
Because of the steady decrease in COVID-19 statistics, the governor has reduced restrictions on a number of industries and recently announced that large stadiums and arenas could reopen at the end of February with 10% capacity.
It’s expected that more reopenings will come, especially as the state continues to increase vaccination rates.
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