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In New York City, the rate of Covid-19 infection is increasing and the whole state is taking further action.
With our correspondent in New York, Carrie Nooten
Now, the Ava Estiatorio restaurant on 48th Street in New York will have to close its doors two hours earlier at 10 p.m. This is the latest decision from state governor Andrew Cuomo, worried that the Covid-19 infection rate has risen to 2.9%, and for whom the tracing has identified the culprits: the bars , restaurants, gyms and private parties. Hence the advance of the closing time and the limit to ten for private events. ” Neighboring states have done so. We will do it too, Andrew Cuomo said. I don’t want people in Connecticut to say : “we can’t meet at home, so we come to your place in New York“ ».
Trauma
Particularly traumatized at having been one of the most important epicenters of the pandemic with 33,500 deaths, New York State has been particularly disciplined since March. The mask is worn there without discussion. The schools operate in a hybrid fashion combining physical classes and distance learning. Testing is free and encouraged and quarantine is theoretically required for travelers from other states, but that won’t have been enough. The state has therefore imposed a curfew for restaurants since November 13.
It is impossible to know when the restrictions will be lifted. Since March, the Ava Estiatorio restaurant has adapted by offering only take-away meals until summer, then by adding tables outside as proposed by the town hall, limiting occupancy to 25% in interior and by arranging its terrace for the winter. Although he owns one of the largest terraces in the neighborhood, Arturo, his manager, is worried.
« We are luckier than most restaurants, he believes. Yet we fail to be profitable. So it’s difficult. Now we are entering the bleak winter: are they going to let us open, allow us 25% occupancy? Is the curfew going to be brought forward to 8 p.m. as I heard the rumor? We don’t know “. The town hall also hinted that schools were about to close again.
► (Re) listen: Coronavirus: in New York, the serious consequences of confinement
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