New York City will impose new restrictions in two of its districts, in the upper Manhattan area and on Staten Island, after registering a continuous increase in positive cases of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus that are also affecting the rest of the state, as announced Monday by its governor, Andrew Cuomo.
At a press conference, the governor reported that the positivity rate -which represents the cases over the total of tested- in the entire state of New York has risen to 3.08%, with 5,906 infections, 2,724 people hospitalized and 33 deaths in the last 24 hours, which has triggered the imposition of measures at the “micro-local” level.
Among the affected areas are Washington Heights, a neighborhood with a large Hispanic population in upper Manhattan, which will probably fall into the category of “yellow” zone tomorrow, with the capacity in churches of worship reduced by half, meeting limit to 25 people indoors and outdoors, and 4 people per table in restaurants, among other things.
The Staten Island district, which was in large part already subjected to these restrictions for days, now has five neighborhoods in the “orange” zone and its situation has worsened to the point where a temporary emergency hospital is being opened to Covid-19 patients at the request of local centers, already overwhelmed by hospitalizations.
The New York City Council suspended face-to-face classes in public schools last week, so both districts remain closed, but Cuomo indicated that the centers could reopen under certain conditions, after extensive cleaning and frequent mandatory tests to maintain the positivity below 3%.
The governor recalled the impact of the first wave of covid-19, when New York was the epicenter of the pandemic, and stressed that the state now has one of the lowest infection rates in the US but that may change in the face of the Thanksgiving Day, which is celebrated this Thursday and brings several family reunion holidays.
He asked society not to rely solely on the good news of the efficacy of the anticovid vaccines and the estimates that the US will start a vaccination campaign as of December 12, since it will take time to immunize large numbers of people: ” The vaccine is not going to be here in time to stop a rising infection rate. “
The city of Buffalo, the second-largest in the state, is on its way to entering the “red” zone, forcing it to close all non-essential businesses and keep restaurants only with takeout, while the Westchester region, the most affected in the first wave, north of the Big Apple, is also heading towards this category, the governor reported.
The United States registers 12,282,123 positive cases of SARS-CoV-2 and 256,934 deaths from covid-19, according to Johns Hopkins University.
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