Cuomo’s Monday Presser on COVID Hot Spots

Cuomo’s Monday Presser on COVID Hot Spots: Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that he will close schools in nine COVID hot spot ZIP codes in Brooklyn and Queens but will allow Rockland Schools to remain open pending further review. The governor said that the New York City school closings, which just opened last week, were precipitated out of an abundance of caution. And that some of the schools either had not done testing or had insufficient data. Restaurants will also be closed in those areas.

The nine ZIP codes had positive COVID test rates of between 3 and 8% in recent days. There are an additional eleven ZIP codes in Brooklyn and Queens that are seeing positive test rate spikes that are being closely monitored. Indoor dining in those ZIP codes will be closed.

State to take over Law Enforcement in Hot Spots

Cuomo, however, said that a new state task force would take over enforcement in all hot spot areas using local personnel – mostly health department officials. Those assigned to the task force will have the power to issue fines and summonses to individuals not complying with the state’s rules, including social distancing and face coverings.

That includes Rockland County where positive COVID test rates hit 7.6% on Friday and where ZIP codes in Montrose and Spring Valley remained elevated above 11% from October 1 to 3. Orange County’s 10950 ZIP code in the town of Monroe had the state’s most elevated 3-day positivity test rates of 21.2%. Otherwise, the state’s overall positive test rate remains at 1.23%. Westchester County’s 3-day average was 1.05% from October 1-3.

Cuomo threatens to close down churches and temples

However, religious institutions, where mass gatherings are believed to be the root cause of recent COVID clusters, will remain open. The governor will meet with leaders of the orthodox Jewish community from New York City, Rockland, Orange and Nassau counties tomorrow to discuss compliance necessary to keep them open. Calling mass gatherings “super-spreader” events, Cuomo cited holiday celebrations and observances in churches and temples for weeks where outdoor attendance dramatically exceeded guidelines. Cuomo indicated that he is looking for religious leaders to “agree to follow the rules” and to enforce 50% capacity guidelines using monitors at their doors. Otherwise he threatened to close them down. “Close a church or temple because it’s over 50%? We will do it,” he said.