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Coronavirus Updates: Cuomo Reminds New Yorkers (And Cops) Masks Are Not Chin Guards
By
Jen Chung
and
David Cruz
Published Jun 13, 2020
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Governor Andrew Cuomo's Office
By
Jen Chung
and
David Cruz
Published Jun 13, 2020
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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Saturday, June 13th, 2020. Previous daily updates can be found here, and up-to-date statistics are here.
New York City is in Phase 1 of reopening now. 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:
- Will The COVID-19 Pandemic Lead To Higher Insurance Rates?
- NJ Temp Agencies Are Cramming Workers Into Vans During Pandemic
2:30 p.m.: Governor Andrew Cuomo warned New York City residents venturing out to their local pubs to exercise self-discipline and wear a mask when outside.
At a news conference on Saturday, Cuomo demonstrated what's not the correct way to wear a mask: having it placed under your chin and not your mouth. "This is nothing. I don't know what this is," said Cuomo, showing his mask lowered to his chin as demonstrable of ineffective mask wearing. "This is like a form of a chin guard. It may be a fashion statement. It may be cool, but this accomplishes nothing. It's not a mask."
His comments come a day after several New York City neighborhoods were filled with people drinking and hanging out with friends without facemasks, despite Cuomo's executive order from April mandating facemasks be worn over the mouth and nose outside the home if New Yorkers cannot socially distant. He also called on police departments to also wear masks, as the law applies to them too.
In a tweet posted shortly after his news conference, Cuomo directed a cheeky tweet to New Yorkers revelers, writing "don't make me come down there."
Cuomo put it on local governments to "do their job" and enforce the mask order.
"I know it's tedious, but it's also very important," said Cuomo. "And I said to the local governments yesterday this is their job. And if they don't do their job then they're going to have an unpopular task, which is explain to their local community why they have to slow or start the reopening."
Cuomo also announced that there were 32 COVID-19 deaths, the lowest number since the pandemic began.
The governor also clarified his decision to keep sleepaway camps closed. Day camps, however, can open so long as they abide by the state and federal health guidelines.
"Sleepaway camps are a much higher level of risk, and after much study and debate and research, our advice in New York State by our health commissioner is the risk is too great to open the summer camps," said Cuomo.
Dr. Howard Zucker, the state health commissioner, said his recommendation is to keep sleepaway camp was one his toughest decisions.
"We have to go back and look at this from the facts, and the facts are that this is a congregant setting; there are many children who are together in a bunk; they're sleeping in the same area close by; they're eating in the same common area; they're using a shared bathroom, so social distancing in this situation is just not possible," said Zucker.
Cuomo also announced that the Central New York, Finger Lakes, Mohawk Valley, North Country, and Southern Tier regions in Upstate New York have been green lit to enter Phase 3 of reopening after speaking with global public health experts. The move allows restaurants and personal care services to reopen at 50 percent capacity and under strict state and federal guidelines.
Seats for United States Military Academy graduating cadets are set up for social distancing before commencement ceremonies begin in West Point, N.Y
John Minchillo/AP/Shutterstock
West Point Cadets Emerge From Two-Week Quarantine For Trump Graduation Speech
President Donald Trump will deliver the commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy's Class of 2020 in West Point, New York on Saturday, to 1,100 cadets who have spent the past two weeks in quarantine in order for the ceremony to occur.
The president, who ignored warnings about the coronavirus, made the decision to appear at West Point in mid-April, as New York was in the middle of grappling with the virus. Since the pandemic began, there have been over 114,000 deaths in the United States, nearly 25,000 of them in New York.
The graduating class had been at home since spring break in March, but returned two weeks ago. The NY Times reports, "In preparation for the president, the West Point cadets have been divided into four groups of about 250, with strict orders not to mingle outside their cohort. They eat in shifts in the dining hall, with food placed on long tables by kitchen staff who quickly leave. There are four designated paths for cadets who want to go for socially distanced runs. To ensure an infection-free graduation ceremony, the cadets were tested for the virus when they arrived back on campus. Fifteen of them initially tested positive but showed no symptoms, said Lt. Col. Christopher Ophardt, a West Point spokesman. The 15 did not transmit the virus to others and are now virus-free, Colonel Ophardt said, and will graduate with the others in their class."
The cadets will be socially distanced "across the Plain Parade Field to accommodate the requirements of Covid-19 protection, instead of at Michie Stadium, the traditional location for the graduation," according to CNN, which adds, "Family and friends will not be allowed to attend the ceremony but can watch it online."
The cadets will also be wearing masks while walking out to the field, but will not wear them for the ceremony because they have "tested negative," Ophardt told CNN. He continued, "Instead of being handed the diploma, they will render a salute from a small stage that's about 15 feet in front of where the President will be standing. So when their name gets read, instead of getting handed a diploma ... they'll step forward and they'll salute President; President and Lt. Gen. Williams will salute back, and then they'll leave the stage, and that will be their recognition."
The visit to West Point comes as military leaders, including his own, have questioned President's photo-op at St. John's Episcopal Church in Washington, D.C. on June 1st, an incident where police used tear gas to clear peaceful protesters from the area, as well as the President's demands to use the military to respond to protesters. Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said he did not realize the event was a photo op (he thought they were inspecting damage to the church from the prior evening's protests), while General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said, "I should not have been there. My presence in that moment and in that environment created a perception of the military involved in domestic politics."
Esper and Milley are not expected to attend the graduation today.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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David Cruz
David is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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