NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced the state will be rolling back reopenings in areas with a large number of coronavirus cases.
In areas now labeled “red zones,” Gov. Cuomo has instructed all non-essential businesses and schools to close. Mass gatherings will be prohibited, and restaurants may operate on a take-out only basis.
Similar to how things were at the beginning of the pandemic, religious gatherings will once again be limited to 25% capacity, or a maximum of 10 people.
Gov. Cuomo stressed that the zones will no longer be marked by ZIP codes and says a team of experts have mapped out the areas of concern.
“These were done specifically from the actual case numbers themselves,” the governor said, saying they are moving away from using ZIP codes to define hot spots.
Areas colored red will be required to follow the strictest coronavirus guidelines while surrounding areas, colored orange, will experience some rollbacks as well.
Only high-risk non-essential businesses, such as gyms and personal care salons, will be required to close in orange areas. Indoor dining will also be put on pause, though restaurants may continue to operate with outdoor dining.
“Red is the cluster, orange is surrounding the cluster, yellow is the peripheral,” the governor explained.
Cuomo notes that Brooklyn has the worst clusters in the state, with much of the borough being in either the red or orange zones. Queens also had two small cluster zones, as does Binghamton, Orange County and Rockland County.
While the governor has already ordered schools in red and orange areas to close, he said Tuesday that schools in yellow zones may remain open so long as they are conducting weekly testing of students, teachers and staff members.
“Schools are important because you will very often see the schools be a place of transmission,” Cuomo said.
To discourage the continuation of large gatherings, the state is also increasing fines for sponsors of large events to $15,000.
Cuomo said rules can go into effect as soon as Wednesday, but they must be in place and enforced by local governments no later than Friday.
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