Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that New York is just days away from a second lockdown if coronavirus cases and hospitalizations continue to surge upward during the holiday season. Cuomo said during a Monday press conference in New York City, “If you overwhelm the hospital capacity, you will have to go back to shutdown. There are no options.”
Hospitalizations across New York are rising over the last month, as New Yorkers gathered for the holidays despite warnings from health officials. To combat the new wave, Cuomo revealed a series of new restrictive mandates that could go into effect as soon as Friday. Cuomo said if hospitalization rates do not stabilize in the next five days, indoor dining will have a 25 percent occupancy limit across the state—and will shut down entirely in New York City.
The plan is similar to that of California, where a new stay-at-home order took effect on Sunday for Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, after ICU capacity dipped below 15 percent. San Francisco has also gone into lockdown, with the mayor imposing a separate set of orders. California’s new stay-at-home order affects around 85% of the state’s 40 million people, and will be in place for at least three weeks.
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