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Coronavirus Updates: State Rolls Out "Micro-Cluster" Strategy To Contain COVID-19 Outbreaks

Sophia Chang

and

David Cruz

Published Oct 17, 2020

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Maybe you'll want to see Anchorman 2 here.

Scott Lynch / Gothamist

Sophia Chang

and

David Cruz

Published Oct 17, 2020

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Saturday, October 17th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.

New York City is in Phase 4 of reopening now, which includes zoos, botanical gardens, museums, and gyms. Certain parts of Brooklyn and Queens are under a zoned shutdown. A look at preparing for the spread of coronavirus is here, and if you have lingering questions about the virus, here is our regularly updated coronavirus FAQ. Here are some local and state hotlines for more information: NYC: 311; NY State Hotline: 888-364-3065; NJ State Hotline: 800-222-1222.

Here's the latest:

The state is refining its approach to combatting COVID-19, employing a strategy that will contain the virus on a block-by-block level rather than on a regional or even neighborhood level, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday. The strategy, according to Cuomo, is to limit any disruptions caused by shutting down businesses or schools by pinpointing where so-called "micro-clusters" are located.

The approach is based on the state's greater availability of testing data to determine whether to increase restrictions and enforcement actions in a given area, according to Cuomo.

"We actually have data that is so specific that we can't show it because it would violate privacy conditions, but we know exactly where the cases are coming from," said Cuomo. "Sweet sixteen party on Long Island with too many people, bars in the Southern Tier with too many people, then everybody goes to a funeral with too many people and it spreads. It's always lack of compliance."

The roll out comes two weeks after Cuomo unveiled a color-coded system identifying areas with high COVID-19 cases, impacting parts of Brooklyn and Queens. That approach -- a departure from Mayor Bill de Blasio's strategy to identify hotspots based off ZIP codes -- saw the shuttering of hundreds of schools and businesses within the red zone. Orange and yellow zones were ordered to heed the warning of increased rates, scaling back business activity and enforcing mask compliance.

Under the micro-cluster strategy, blocks with extremely high cases will be subject to certain actions.

"You have to have refined detection, which is more targeted testing," said Cuomo. "You have to have mitigation measures for those areas that reflects why the virus is spreading in those areas. And then you have to do enforcement. That is how this works, and again, the devil is in the execution, not in the details."

The new strategy won't rely on metrics similar to Cuomo's phased regional approach, but will examine daily changes to determine whether a micro-cluster's boundaries can expand or contract.

"With this strategy we don't have those same benchmarks because it's so particular and circumstantial to that cluster," said Cuomo.

Movie Theaters Outside NYC Can Reopen With Restrictions

1:15 p.m.: Movie theaters outside New York City will be allowed to reopen next week under strict conditions months after they were ordered to close because of COVID-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced at a news conference in Manhattan on Saturday.

The change to lift restrictions applies to areas that are seeing infections rate below 2% on 14-day rolling average and, unlike New York City, do not have a designated red, orange, or yellow zone. Theaters can reopen at 25% capacity or a limit of 50 people inside one individual theater. said Cuomo. Movie theaters will be allowed to reopen on October 23rd.

It might frustrate New York City residents to continue life without a theater, but movie theaters in nearby Westchester, Nassau, and Suffolk counties will be allowed to reopen since it meets the metrics Cuomo outlined.

As outlined by the Cuomo administration, requirements for theaters include:

Masks will be required at all times except when seated and eating/drinking.
Assigned seating will be required in all theaters.
Social distancing between parties will be required at all times.
Additional staffing is required to control occupancy, traffic, and seating to ensure compliance.

Theaters will also be required to install quality filters to ensure proper airflow. Windowless theaters had worried health experts who saw them as petri dishes for virus transmissions.

The news comes as New York State continues to see rates of COVID-19 infections remain steady outside hotspot areas, with a 1.1% positivity rate reported on Friday. That's compared to the 4.34% positivity rate in red zones that include Brooklyn, Queens, Orange, and Rockland counties on Friday. That rate is lower than the weekly average rate from last week, which saw a 6.13% positivity rate.

A man down a large hall walks past an exhibit inside The Met Cloisters in Inwood.

John Minchillo/AP/Shutterstock

Judge Rejects Brooklyn Diocese's Plea To Allow Mass Gatherings At COVID-19 Hotspots

10:45 a.m.: A federal judge has denied the Diocese of Brooklyn’s application for a temporary restraining order on the governor’s attendance restrictions on houses of worship in areas identified as COVID-19 hotspots.

In a ruling issued Friday, Eastern District of New York Judge Nicholas Garaufis wrote that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s October 6th executive order restricting gatherings in “red” and “orange” zones is not discriminatory against religious gatherings.

Cuomo ordered zoned shutdowns in four virus hotspot regions, including portions of South Brooklyn and Queens, and two suburban communities in Rockland and Orange counties.

In “red zones,” areas with the highest test positivity, no more than 10 people will be allowed to attend houses of worship.

The Diocese of Brooklyn's lawyer, Randy Mastro, had argued that the state’s restrictions shouldn’t include Catholic churches in Cuomo’s red and orange zones because the COVID-19 infection “spikes have stemmed from non-compliance issues in another religious community that does not generally interact with the Diocese’s parishioners” -- meaning the ultra-Orthodox Jewish enclaves in parts of New York.

In his ruling, Garaufis wrote that Cuomo’s acknowledgement that the restrictions were a “very blunt” instrument do not mean that “the law was designed to target religious groups.”

“The court is satisfied, based on the evidence submitted, that the State’s policy is guided by science, not a desire to target religious practice,” the ruling said.

In a statement, the Diocese of Brooklyn said they are “extremely disappointed” in the ruling.

“It is a shame our parishioners in the red zones cannot return to Mass when the judge acknowledged we have done everything right,” said Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio in a release Friday, adding they are exploring an appeal of the ruling.

DiMarzio added, “It is unfortunate that our inalienable constitutional right to worship is still impeded despite the efforts we have made. We will also continue to advocate for places of worship to be classified as essential, for there is nothing more necessary today than a community of believers, united in prayer, asking the Lord to end this pandemic.”

Cuomo’s latest round of restrictions have been the target of numerous lawsuits from religious groups claiming the state is violating a constitutional right to religious freedom. Other federal judges have denied similar restraining order applications from Jewish groups, led by Agudath Israel, an umbrella organization for synagogues, and the Thomas More Society, a Chicago-based advocacy law firm representing a group of plaintiffs including two Catholic priests and four Orthodox observers.

Tagged

COVID-19

covid-19 updates

Sophia Chang

Sophia Chang is a former WNYC and Gothamist reporter.

David Cruz

David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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