New York and the northeastern states of the United States, which have long kept the coronavirus under control after being hit hard in the spring, are now seeing a sharp rise in cases of infection, raising fears of the return of restrictions.
• Read also: All developments in the COVID-19 pandemic
We are still far from an uncontrolled outbreak, as in some states in the Midwest or in Europe. But the numbers are clearly on the rise, and officials increasingly concerned.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio released figures Thursday showing a doubling of the positivity rate in America’s largest metropolis. The city has recorded a record number of deaths from the virus – more than 23,000 deaths from COVID-19 since March (over 33,000 for the whole of New York state).
After a long period where the positivity rate has stabilized around 1%, the mayor deemed “very worrying” Thursday the rate of 2.7% recorded the day before, and an average close to 2% over the past week.
“We must not allow a second wave to settle in which would impose drastic restrictions on us”, similar to the measures taken in Europe, he insisted during a press briefing.
“You really have to avoid traveling”, because “almost everywhere else (…) it’s worse,” he said, calling to avoid gatherings for the Halloween, Saturday, and Thanksgiving celebrations. November, when many Americans reunite with family.
New York is surrounded by states where the virus is on an even more upward slope. New Jersey, the region’s second worst-hit state in the spring, now has more than 1,000 new cases every day, and the positivity rate has reached 6.5%, Governor Phil Murphy tweeted Thursday.
At least two cities in the state, including Newark – just outside New York – have already reinstated restrictions, such as a curfew on non-essential businesses.
Cases are also on the rise in Pennsylvania, Connecticut and Massachusetts.
This increase poses a new headache for authorities who, in the face of soaring cases in the southern, midwestern and western United States, have imposed quarantines on visitors from states with high positivity rates – more than 10 % for New York, for example.
The measure is difficult to apply to neighboring states, with people moving from one to another for work or shopping.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo recently gave up adding New Jersey and Connecticut to his list of more than 40 states under quarantine, calling only to avoid non-essential travel.
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