(Photo by Sandra Seitamaa on Unsplash)
July 1, 2020 By Allie Griffin
New Yorkers will have to wait a little longer to grab a bite to eat indoors.
The reopening of indoor dining at New York City restaurants has been postponed indefinitely, both Mayor Bill de Blasio and Governor Andrew Cuomo announced today.
New York City was poised to reopen indoor dining on July 6, as part of Phase III of the governor’s reopening plan. However, an uptick of COVID-19 cases in states that have already reopened indoor dining have caused the officials to change tack.
“Phase III dining — we are going to postpone,” Cuomo said during a press conference in New York City. “It’s going to be postponed until the facts change and it is prudent to open.”
Mayor de Blasio also worried about indoor transmission. Research appears to show, he said, that the public is more susceptible to contracting the virus indoors.
“It is not the time to forge ahead with indoor dining,” de Blasio said.
Other states that have already reopened restaurants and bars are now seeing skyrocketing cases of COVID-19, he added.
New York has issued a travel advisory for these states. It’s requiring travelers from 16 states, where the rate of infection is particularly high, to quarantine for 14 days when entering the Empire State.
Cuomo said he is also worried about New Yorkers not following social distancing rules and failing to wear masks.
“Look at any street in Manhattan, go to the East Village, go to the West Side, go to Brooklyn, go to Queens, go to The Bronx,” Cuomo said. “Citizen compliance is slipping.”
He blamed it on a lack of enforcement — though he did not call out New York City officials by name.
“If you have citizen compliance dropping and you don’t have local governments enforcing, then you’re going to see the virus go up,” Cuomo said.
“The local governments have to do their job.”
The governor said the decision to postpone is preemptive to avoid an increase of new coronavirus cases. New York City’s numbers have continued to remain at safe levels.
“We went from worst infection rate in the United States to best infection rate in the United States,” Cuomo said of New York State.
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