Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Cuomo Warns Parts Of Manhattan, Staten Island Are On COVID "Warning Track"
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Nov 22, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
YouTube/Governor Andrew Cuomo's Office
By
Sydney Pereira
Published Nov 22, 2020
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Parts of Staten Island and upper Manhattan will soon see new pandemic restrictions if the number of positive COVID-19 tests continues to rise at its current rate, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced Sunday.
"We have several communities that are in the warning track," Cuomo said during a press briefing in Manhattan.
Parts of Staten Island will go into orange and red zones "at the current rate," Cuomo warned ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday. Upper Manhattan is poised to go into a yellow zone, in addition to parts of Nassau and Suffolk counties. Syracuse and Rochester would see more orange zones.
"Unless they dramatically change the trajectory of the infection rate, this week they will go into those zones," Cuomo told reporters.
The governor added that Staten Island is a particular concern.
"Staten Island is a serious problem. Staten Island is also a problem in terms of overburdening hospitals, and we're running into a hospital capacity issue on Staten Island that we have to be dealing with over the next few days," he said. The exact maps of zoned restrictions have not yet been released.
The increased spread of the virus has put New York State at a 2.7% positive testing rate over a seven-day average on Saturday.
Without the cluster zones, NY has a 2.2% test positivity rate. Cluster zones scattered across the state have a 4.39% positivity rate.
Cuomo has implemented a "micro-cluster" strategy with zoned restrictions intended to curb cases, targeting hyperlocal swaths of the state.
Currently, neighborhoods in Queens, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Staten Island all have sections under yellow zone restrictions. Under a yellow zone, houses of worship are capped at a 50% capacity and mass gatherings can be no more than 25 people, and though businesses can remain open, restaurants can serve a maximum of four people per table indoors. Schools remain open with a mandatory testing requirement.
An orange zone caps houses of worship at 33% and gatherings are limited to 10 people inside and outside, but nonessential businesses and indoor dining close. Schools go remote, with an option to for individual schools "test out" of the in-person instruction closures by conducting COVID-tests of faculty, students, and staff.
Red zones are effectively a version of a stay-at-home policy in which gatherings are banned unless it is at a house of worship, which are capped at 25% capacity. Restaurants return to takeout and delivery only, and schools are remote with the same "test out" option.
Last week, the governor said all of NYC could soon go into an orange zone. The city reached a 2.5% positivity rate under the governor's measure that should send the city into a yellow zone—but it isn't clear why the governor hasn't already put NYC under the first-tier of restrictions.
The governor said after the holiday season—January 1st and into the middle of the month—the state will see the "collective impact" of the holidays on the spread of the virus.
"You could see our whole scale change by the time this is over," Cuomo said. "I would not be shocked if they said on January 10th, January 15th, we're up at 7, 8, 9, 10 percent. That could very easily happen if we are irresponsible. It could even be higher if we are irresponsible."
To make matters more confusing on what zoned restrictions could be implemented where you live, the state and the city have different definitions of how test positivity rates are measured.
The governor said Sunday the difference was "irrelevant" because the state has ultimate control. But health experts have said it is important that local health officials verify the state's numbers.
Hospitalizations rose by 119 to 2,562 statewide and intensive care unit patients rose 35 to 502 across the state, Cuomo said. Thirty people died from coronavirus in New York on Saturday, according to the governor.
Tagged
Governor Andrew Cuomo
restrictions
COVID-19
upper manhattan
coronavirus
nyc
staten island
Sydney Pereira
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Bail reform remains major issue in NY governor's race, 7 years after it became law
Repeat offenders are a big talking point in the governor's race.
By
Gino Fanelli
Published Oct 18, 2026 at 7:00 a.m. ET
Man shot and killed on Midtown subway platform Saturday afternoon, NYPD says
Police said they're searching for a person of interest.
By
Ryan Kost
and
Elizabeth Kim
News
Man shot and killed on Midtown subway platform Saturday afternoon, NYPD says
Police said they're searching for a person of interest.
By
Ryan Kost
and
Elizabeth Kim
Have you seen this Yorkie? NYPD looking for adorable pup dognapped from her Queens home
By
Ryan Kost
Being reigning champions is weird for Knicks fans, but we could get used to this.
By
Catalina Gonella
Tompkins Square Park is getting a makeover. Some say it's too much.
By
Willow Higgins
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .