New York will lift further restrictions on COVID-19 when the state of emergency expires later this week, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
The state of emergency expires on Thursday, he said, which means it will be lifted on Friday.
New Yorkers will continue to wear masks on public transportation, hospitals, nursing homes, correctional facilities and homeless shelters, according to federal guidelines.
Students and staff still have to wear masks in indoor schools until the end of the school year – though the Health Department didn’t say Wednesday if that rule applies to summer school, for example.
But Cuomo’s announcement Wednesday means that public gatherings, for example, should no longer occur virtually.
And bars and restaurants will no longer be able to sell wine, spirits and cocktails to go, according to the state liquor authority.
In the meantime, businesses can maintain the strictest restrictions on COVID-19. And COVID-19 restrictions remain in effect for large gated venues with capacity for more than 5,000 people: Attendees must present proof of vaccination, or wear masks and present proof of negative test results.
“Fighting COVID and vaccinating New Yorkers remain top priorities, but the emergency chapter of this fight is over,” Cuomo tweeted.
It is the governor’s latest announcement on the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions at a time when rates of new positives are falling to record lows as more New Yorkers get vaccinated. And it comes after months of opposition from Republicans and business groups who have called for cuomo’s executive power to be limited.
Cuomo already has the power to temporarily suspend or change laws in a state of emergency.
Cuomo had been extending the state of emergency since spring 2020, when lawmakers gave the governor the power to begin passing COVID-19 state mandates without the need for legislative approval.
Cuomo used those emergency powers to close schools and businesses, order masks and social distancing, establish eligibility rules for vaccines and limit how many people could gather.
Earlier this year, lawmakers curtailed those powers: Cuomo has largely limited himself to expanding or modifying existing COVID-19 orders if he advises legislative leaders.
In recent weeks, conservatives and advocacy groups have lobbied Cuomo to repeal remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including mask mandates for schoolchildren and business restrictions.
The New York State Association of Realtors, for example, urged Cuomo to let the state of emergency expire so realtors could make cold telemarketing calls again.
“There is a critical housing shortage and this ban is making it worse by preventing us from developing new listings,” reads a call to action on the group’s website.
Industry groups representing restaurant and bar owners said that the sale of alcoholic beverages to go has been very popular in the last year, although the sale of beer to go is still allowed.
The Empire State Restaurant and Tavern Association has criticized lawmakers for failing to pass a bill to expand takeout sales, and has blamed lobbyists representing liquor stores for spreading “misinformation. “that take-out sales were fueling” mass drunk driving. “
Cuomo began lifting the COVID-19 mandates in February, when New York was seeing high levels of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations.
Visit the NY1 News page with our special coverage on the coronavirus:
– .
