New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks at a news conference on September 8, 2020 in New York City.
Spencer Platt | Getty Images
Non-essential New York companies could be forced to close again in January if the state does not counter the escalation of coronavirus cases, which have skyrocketed in recent weeks to levels not seen since the spring, said Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday.
“Of course, a closure is possible in January,” Cuomo said at a news conference in Albany. “But there’s a big but,” he said, writing the word one letter at a time “FOR.”
Whether the state will impose an economic shutdown again depends on what New Yorkers do during the remaining holidays and whether new Covid-19 infections decrease or grow, he said.
New York faces a wave of Covid-19 cases, averaging approximately 10,294 new infections each day over the past week, up 7% from a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by data from Johns Hopkins University. These are newer cases every day than the state saw in the spring when hospital systems in New York City and elsewhere were overwhelmed with patients.
Cuomo did not say what a second closure would be like. On Monday he imposed another ban on indoor dining in New York City, but said he wants to keep public schools open and has not yet decided whether to close non-essential businesses.
“It’s up to us. What will happen in three weeks? What will happen in four weeks? You tell me what you will do for the next three weeks or four weeks and I will tell you what will happen,” he said.
As the current rate of the virus is spreading, New Yorkers should be prepared for a second closure similar to the one Cuomo issued in the spring where non-essential businesses and schools were closed and people were told to stay. at home to stop the spread of Covid-19, Mayor warned Bill of Blasio.
He said that “it was increasingly necessary just to break the back of the second wave, to prevent that second wave from growing, to prevent life from moving, to prevent it from threatening our hospitals,” Blasio said during a press session Monday.
Cuomo urged New Yorkers to take “personal responsibility” to curb the spread of the virus, especially in the middle of the holiday season. Now the state is concerned about what the governor calls “spreading the hall.” This is because state-wide contact tracking data has shown that nearly 74% of new Covid-19 cases come from homes and social gatherings.
“No one knows what New Yorkers will do by Christmas and how they will act this Christmas week,” Cuomo said. “Numbers are not predestined. Numbers are a reflection of what we do.”
The governor also pushed for state hospitals to switch to “crisis management mode,” meaning health care systems need to work with neighboring hospital systems to “share the burden” of patients and transfer resources. in hospitals in areas with high Covid-19 rates.
There are more than 5,400 people admitted to New York hospitalized on a weekly average, a 25 percent increase from a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by the Covid Tracking Project, led by reporters at The Atlantic.
“Balance the load so that hospitals don’t overflow, something we’ve seen in the past,” Cuomo said.
The state has begun administering its initial allocation of Covid-19 vaccines to front-line health workers. So far, the state has received 87,750 doses of the Povizer Covid-19 vaccine, and plans to get an additional 80,000 doses in the coming days, Cuomo said.
“This will go for residents in residences,” Cuomo said. New York could get another 346,000 doses of Modern vaccine if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration clears it for emergency use this week.
“Reduce the spread, manage the hospitals, administer the vaccine,” Cuomo said.