Coronavirus in New York: Plans to Reverse Reopening of Businesses and Schools in Selective Areas

Public health officials were concerned for many weeks about a second wave of the coronavirus which may hit New York City, which had done remarkably well in beating the outbreak which killed more than 20,000 residents during the spring. On Sunday Mayor Bill de Blasio proposed that from Wednesday all the non-essential businesses and schools in nine zip codes with a high positivity rate of the coronavirus will be temporarily closed. This is a major setback for the residents as coronavirus in New York was in control over the last month.

The Mayor said that the decision to reverse the reopening of businesses will be difficult for people who did sacrifice so much in order to fight the crisis. He further added that it is necessary to stop the coronavirus in New York to be further spreading and it is necessary for the good of the whole city.

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The Mayor’s suggested plan, which is yet to be approved by the state, proposes that all the public and private schools, daycares, and nonessential businesses are to be closed. Also, the restaurants in those zip codes will have to stop their dining services but would be allowed to continue their pickup and delivery orders. If for a consecutive period of two weeks the positivity rates in the effected Zip codes remain below 3%, businesses and schools will be permitted to reopen. If not, the selected areas will remain closed for a period of not less than 4 weeks.

The nine selected areas contain large populations of Jews communities, where the public health officials have found it difficult to persuade the residents to adhere to social distancing rules and wear masks. The positivity rates in those areas have been more than 3% percent in recent days and in some areas, it is as high as 8 percent, in contrast, the positivity rate of coronavirus in New York City is 1.5%. According to the mayor in another 11 Zip codes, the schools will be allowed to remain open but indoor dining would be banned. If Governor Andrew M. Cuomo approves the plan, it will go into effect beginning Wednesday.

Dr. Anthony Fauci Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said that he is certainly not satisfied or pleased but is actually concerned and disturbed about the fact that the daily number of infections in the US is still stuck around 40,000. He believes that it is no place to be when trying to get your arms around a pandemic.

Around 7.4 million people have been infected with the virus in the United States and nearly 210,000 have died, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. On Friday the US recorded the highest daily number of cases of coronavirus in nearly two months.

Public health officials urged all the people of New York to use precautions of covering their faces with face masks or face shields, washings hands, and following social distancing. The New Yorkers were further advised to stay away from large gatherings and maintain a distance of 12 feet while singing in worship.