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Coronavirus Updates: De Blasio Says Indoor Dining Likely To End Soon

Elizabeth Kim

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Ben Yakas

Published Nov 19, 2020

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People wait in a line stretching around a block, outside a CityMD urgent care clinic offering COVID-19 testing in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Bebeto Matthews/AP/Shutterstock

Elizabeth Kim

and

Ben Yakas

Published Nov 19, 2020

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This is our daily update of breaking COVID-19 news for Thursday, November 19th, 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, as well as 25% indoor dining. Certain parts of Brooklyn and Staten Island under a zoned shutdown. Get answers to questions youmay have with our "Ask An Epidemiologist" series, or learn more about NYC COVID-19 testing options with our explainer. 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:

12:45 p.m. New York City health officials on Thursday reported a seven-day average coronavirus test positivity rate of 3.01%, with updated stats indicating that NYC has been above the all-important 3% mark for seven straight days now.

The daily average of new reported cases is now over 1,250. That number has gone up for at least 12 straight days.

On Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that public schools would be closed after the city reached the 3% positivity rate. City Hall officials have not set a return date yet, but the mayor said the earliest they could restart would be after the Thanksgiving break.

“We will bring our schools back, but we have to reset the equation," he said at a press conference on Thursday. "Our schools have been extraordinarily safe and we need to keep them that way.”

He once again defended the 3% threshold for schools, saying that the city set a "strict standard" and initiated a "social contract" with parents, teachers and staffers to ensure they could set precautions and guarantee they could protect everyone.

"We wanted it to be tough standard," he said. "It encouraged people to come back and participate and feel comfortable. Once that standard was set we were gonna live by it."

Asked why the city didn't already set a plan for when and under what conditions schools would reopen, the mayor said officials were focused on trying to avoid closure to begin with. "I have learned that sometimes it is hard to plan for next phase, you try your damndest, but can't always do that," de Blasio said.

He reiterated that the city would need more time to "reset the equation" and come up with a reopening standard, and warned that it would take time to implement that after he updates the public on that approach.

In response to questions about why schools were being shut down but not other indoor activities, de Blasio said "it's just a matter of time" before indoor dining and gyms close. He said that decision remains up to Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state to place New York City into an "orange zone," based on when the state's statistics indicate the city is over the 3% positivity mark.

De Blasio added that he expects it to happen very soon: "It’s very likely to be in the next week or two."

The mayor also noted that the city is "moving rapidly away from zip code focus" and into something broader.

"Right now, it is an overwhelming likelihood and close to certainty that New York City will be in orange zone status in a week or two," he said. "So for the immediate future, [there will be] nothing more regionalized" in terms of actions.

The orange zone designation is the second most restrictive under the governor's three-tier system. In addition to ending indoor dining and indoor gyms under that designation, houses of worship can accommodate no more than 25 people. Public gatherings outdoors are capped at 10 people.

As it stands, under a recent order, all private indoor events are limited to 10 people. Since last Friday, restaurants and bars are currently subject to a 10 p.m. curfew, although takeout and delivery is permitted past that hour.

U.S. Passes 250,000 Virus Deaths As Europe Sees “A Small Signal” Of Hope

The United States has now surpassed a quarter of a million deaths from coronavirus, according to separate tallies by Johns Hopkins University and the New York Times.

Since the outbreaks began, the death toll has been repeatedly upwardly revised amid rising opposition to restrictions, pandemic fatigue, and the overall lack of a national strategy to fight the disease.

Back in March, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease specialist, said that based on conservative projections, the U.S. could have as many as 200,000 fatalities from the pandemic. Last month, he said the range of deaths could grow to between 300,000 and 400,000 if Americans failed to take the necessary precautions.

Earlier this week, during a conference sponsored by the New York Times, Fauci called for a uniform approach to fighting the virus.

“We need some fundamental public health measures that everyone should be adhering to, not a disjointed, ‘One state says one thing, the other state says another thing,’” Dr. Fauci said.

Cases in the country continue to skyrocket, especially in the Midwest, where daily records for new cases were repeatedly shattered. The surge has forced several Republican governors in those states, including Ohio and Iowa, to issue mask mandates after having resisted them in favor of a message of personality responsibility.

Meanwhile, Europe, which is also battling a second wave, received some good news on Thursday after the World Health Organization reported that cases were falling for the first time in months.

The number of new infections fell last week by 10%, from two million during the prior week to 1.8 million.

“It is a small signal, but it is a signal nevertheless,” Dr. Hans Kluge, the WHO's regional director for Europe, said at a press conference.

According to CNBC, the number of new cases has been stabilizing in Germany, Spain and Italy, and declining in Belgium, France and the Netherlands.

Those same countries have introduced a range of new restrictions as well as full or partial lockdowns in some cases.

France, for example, is set to remain in lockdown until at least December 1st. All non-essential businesses, including restaurants and bars, are closed. Residents are only allowed to leave their homes for work and essential errands.

The country's prime minister, Jean Castex, recently suggested that the country may remain in partial lockdown after December 1st.

In a direct contrast to the U.S. and most recently, New York City, most European countries have kept schools open, in keeping with advice from public health experts who say the risk of transmission in schools is relatively low.

At the same time, European Union leaders are also pushing for a landmark $2.1 trillion stimulus to be spread across the entire bloc, on top of individual national economic relief programs.

Tagged

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]

Ben Yakas

Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.

Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations

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