Things have changed….
Up to now it was about infection rates…..
The state had been causing along below 3% since the late Spring….
But now that the cold weather and holidays are here?
The infection rates climbed over 3% to the 5% above….
Governor Cuomo appears to have a problem …
He does NOT want to shut down everything like early this year….
The state’s economy just can’t take it….
And parents are up in arms if you close the schools…
So?
What does he do?
He pivot’s to the hospital’s….
New now have hospital capacity rates are the decision point for how official’s will impose virus restrictions…
(Hospital’s will probably start receiving virus vaccine’s in next few weeks)
Stores and other BIG buildings with good air flow are NOT the infection critical places…Neither are gyms and salons…
Bars and indoor food places where people do NOT wear mask ‘s ARE….
Takeout is safe….
But?
Those places have been very active in trying to stay open and make money even if they Are the major problems with infections….
Hmmmmm?
If the number of people hospitalized with COVID-19 doesn’t stabilize or drop in the next five days, the state will restrict indoor dining on Long Island and end it altogether in New York City, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday.
The state also may shut down different regions if hospital capacity “becomes critical” and is in danger of becoming 90% full, Cuomo said.
Despite the gloomy news, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and a guest by videoconferencing at Cuomo’s briefing, predicted New York could have the virus largely under control by late summer, if the vaccination process proceeds without major disruptions.
Cuomo said he would order restaurants on Long Island and elsewhere to reduce indoor dining to 25% of their capacity and New York City to stop indoor dining completely if the hospitalization figures don’t improve. He also said the state is ordering hospitals to increase capacity by 25%, amid surging cases.
Restaurants on Long Island and throughout most of the state have been operating at 50% capacity for indoor dining. New York City is at 25%.
The decision on indoor dining will be made on a regional basis, and restaurants would have a couple of days to implement it, Cuomo said.
“Right now it is increasing,” he said of the hospitalization rates. Because people are gathering in groups for the holidays despite warnings against doing so, “We are looking at continued increases from now through mid-January,” unless people change their behavior.
A further reduction in indoor-dining capacity would be the latest challenge facing Long Island restaurants, said Damien Carlino, owner of Cafe Al Dente in Oyster Bay, where dine-in traffic has dropped dramatically.
“I’m not even at 50 percent now,” said Carlino. He usually does “30 or 40” parties in December, but with large events on pause, the restaurant is mainly getting by with takeout geared toward families.
“It brings in money so we can keep the kitchen staff the way it is, and I don’t have to let anybody go, for now.”…