OAN Newsroom
UPDATED 8:40 AM PT – Tuesday, October 6, 2020
New York is planning on shutting down some schools and non-essential businesses again as coronavirus cases continue to rise. On Monday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) said schools throughout nine zip codes in Brooklyn and Queens will be re-closed starting Tuesday.
“i will not allow your child to be sent to any school that I would not send my child,” stated the governor. “They have sampled some schools in the cluster, but not all the schools and these are the hot spot clusters, so if you prioritize testing go to these schools first.”
COVID hotspot zip codes are categorized as areas that have seen at least a three-percent positivity rate for seven days straight. The move will effect half-a-million people, including roughly 100 public and 200 non-public schools.
This decision comes as part of New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio’s proposed plan to shut down certain hotspots, but Cuomo said he will not re-impose restrictions on indoor dining and non-essential businesses as long as they continue to follow safety precautions. However, De Blasio said he would move forward with the closures on Wednesday unless told otherwise.
“So the plan is to rewind in these nine zip codes, to rewind,” he stated. “To go back to address the problem by using the tools that we know work, which is to ensure that non-essential businesses are not open and a variety of activities are not happening.
De Blasio also proposed for 11 more zip codes to be shut down. Cuomo said the state will keep close watch of the other zip codes before determining if they should be shut down, but he did express the need for mass gatherings to stop. The governor said the state needs to be more aggressive and there will be increased enforcement.
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