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Coronavirus Updates: Brooklyn State Senator Julia Salazar Tests Positive For COVID-19

By

Elizabeth Kim

Published Jul 2, 2020

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A lion outside the New York Public Library wears a mask while pedestrians also wear masks

 

Erik Pendzich/Shutterstock

By

Elizabeth Kim

Published Jul 2, 2020

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Thursday, July 2nd 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.

New York City is in Phase 2 of reopening now, which includes outdoor dining; hair salons and barbershops; and playgrounds are open, . Here's 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:

4:45 p.m. State Senator Julia Salazar, a Democrat who represents the 18th District in North Brooklyn, has tested positive for coronavirus, according to a press release.

Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the Senate Majority Leader, issued a statement on Thursday afternoon.

“I have been informed by Senator Julia Salazar that she has tested positive for COVID-19," she said, adding, "Senator Salazar began feeling mild symptoms and immediately self-quarantined and got tested. She is still experiencing mild symptoms and is continuing her self-quarantining at home. We are all wishing her well and look forward to her full recovery.”

A spokesperson for Salazar said she was resting and had quarantined herself.

At least four other state lawmakers have contracted the disease. They include Brooklyn Assemblymembers Helene Weinstein and Charles Barron, who tested positive in March.

Salazar, a 29-year old self-proclaimed Democratic Socialist is running for re-election and had been actively campaigning to fend off a primary challenge from Bushwick local Andy Marte. The day before the election, she was out handing out face masks at a public housing project in Brooklyn.

3:00 p.m. New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy on Thursday said that outdoor gatherings in the state could double to 500 on Friday, in advance of the July 4th holiday weekend.

The move would allow outdoor high school graduations of up to 500 people to begin on Monday, Murphy said.

“We first signaled this eventuality back on June 9th, and we are comfortable at this time to keep to the timetable we set,” the governor said Thursday during a press briefing. “So, on Monday, when outdoor graduation ceremonies are slated to begin, schools will be able to accommodate them.”

The limit on all indoor gatherings to 25 percent of capacity to a maximum of 100 people remains unchanged.

Unlike New Jersey and Connecticut, New York has not distinguished between indoor and outdoor gatherings in regulating crowd size. Under Phase 3, which New York City is expected to enter next week, gatherings of up to 25 people is permitted. Up to 50 people are allowed under Phase 4. Outdoor graduations can only be up to 150 people in New York.

The loosening of the outdoor gathering restrictions comes amid reports of revelers on the Jersey Shore partying in close proximity with no masks.

Citing "knucklehead behavior here at home," Murphy on Monday announced a halt to the reopening of indoor dining, which was to have begun this Thursday across the state. Concerns about increasing virus cases across the country as well as compliance issues drove Governor Andrew Cuomo to halt indoor dining in New York City, as well, which had been expected to begin next Monday.

New Jersey has more than 172,000 confirmed infections, the fourth highest total in the country. But like New York, the state has successfully driven down the number of new daily cases and hospitalizations. The number of new cases was 532 on Wednesday. The positivity rate for tests from June 28th was 2.95 percent.

In a tweet, Murphy warned those heading out to outdoor bars or restaurants this weekend to avoid overcrowding and to wear a mask when not eating or drinking.

Following in Cuomo's footsteps, Murphy also said Thursday that he would support a federal mandate on wearing masks in public.

1:00 p.m. The Staten Island Ferry will resume its normal rush hour schedule beginning on Monday, July 6th, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday.

The mayor said that daily ridership had climbed to 17,000 this week, a sign that more people are returning to work as the city expands the number of businesses that can reopen.

“We’ve got to keep the ferry safe, we got to allow for social distancing," de Blasio said, during his daily press briefing. "So we’re bringing back more rush hour service.”

The ferries will run every 15 minutes on weekdays between 7 a.m and 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. and 7 p.m., and every 20 minutes between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. and 3:50 p.m and 4:50 p.m.

Last month, ferry officials used masking tape on every other seat to indicate where riders should sit.

Prior to the coronavirus crisis, the Staten Island Ferry carried 70,000 passengers per day. By April, ridership had dropped 85-90 percent, leading transit officials to reduce overnight service.

That reduction will continue under the city's $88 billion budget passed on Tuesday night, meaning that full 24/7 Staten Island Ferry service could still be a year away.

In other transit-related news, the mayor said that the city would suspend alternate side parking until July 12th. The city is currently experimenting with a plan that requires drivers to move their cars only once a week as opposed to two in some neighborhoods.

De Blasio said he hopes to make the change permanent.

U.S. Daily Cases Climb To Record 50,000-Plus As Trump Touts Economy

More than 50,000 coronavirus cases were recorded in the United States on Wednesday, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. The number marks the second consecutive day that the country has posted an all-time high in infections posted in a single day. North Carolina, Tennessee and Texas all reported a record number of new daily cases. Texas alone had more than 8,000 cases.

Despite the alarming surges, President Donald Trump has continued to downplay the latest outbreaks, telling Fox Business News on Wednesday that he hoped the virus would "just disappear."

On Thursday, he held an impromptu press briefing saying that the U.S. economy was "roaring back, coming back extremely strong.” He was referring to news released in the morning that showed that that 4.8 million people were added to the U.S. payrolls, the second month in a row of gains.

Still, as the New York Times pointed out, the number of jobs in June was nearly 15 million fewer than in February before the shutdowns. On Thursday, the federal government reported that 1.4 million people filed for unemployment insurance, marking the 15th straight week that new unemployment claimed exceeded 1 million.

"We’ve done a historic thing," Trump said. "Now we’re opening up and it’s opening up far faster than anybody thought possible."

But experts have cautioned that the recovery could be uneven and prolonged. One economist has projected that New York City may still wind up losing half a million jobs at the end of this year, with the biggest hit on low-wage workers in "face-to-face" industries like dining and essential services.

On Tuesday Jerome Powell, the chair of the Federal Reserve, told lawmakers in Congress that the economic future depended on the trajectory of the virus and the government's response.

“We have entered an important new phase and have done so sooner than expected,” he said. “While this bounce-back in economic activity is welcome, it also presents new challenges — notably, the need to keep the virus in check.”

Similarly, Betsey Stevenson, a member of the Council of Economic Advisers under former President Barack Obama, told the Times, "The virus drives the economics,” If cases continue to rise as health officials warn, she said, “we’re not going to have people going back to work. In fact, we’re going to see more people staying home.”

Tagged

COVID-19

covid-19 updates

coronavirus

Elizabeth Kim

Elizabeth Kim is a reporter on the People and Power desk who covers mayoral power. She previously covered the pandemic, housing, redevelopment and public spaces. A native of Queens, she speaks fluent Mandarin. Got a tip? Email [email protected]

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