The Westchester town of New Rochelle was among the first places in the U.S. the coronavirus hit hard. And now it’s back.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo added the New York City suburb to the list of communities across the state that have had some coronavirus restrictions reimposed on Thursday as the state tries to head off a deadly second wave of COVID-19 infections this winter.
The community was placed under a yellow zone, which limits restaurants and bars to seat just four people per table but allows both indoor and outdoor dining to continue.
During a telephone press briefing, Cuomo also beseeched New Yorkers not to travel plans and big family get-togethers over Thanksgiving as health experts fear they could fuel a massive increase in cases.
“I am telling you, I will wager to you that if people are not extraordinarily diligent, and act in a way they’ve never acted before you’re going to see a very large spike,” Cuomo warned.
“It’s your family, it’s your home, it’s your table — these are all environments where you feel safe and that’s the beauty of Thanksgiving,” he added later. “Your safe zone is not a safe zone, your safe zone is dangerous this year.”
As Cuomo made the remarks, state health officials said that 2.7 percent of the 195,000 test results received yesterday were positive, a sharp drop from the 3.4 percent reported Wednesday.
However, this figure is prone to significant fluxations and officials did not readily have the seven-day average immediately available, which is a steadier figure.
Even as the testing positivity rate showed a one-day decline, COVID-19 put another 2,276 New Yorkers into the hospital.
In New York City, the number of new hospitalizations ticked up by 115. However, the city’s seven-day average positivity rate ticked higher to 3.01 percent, as it inched above the threshold levels that shutdown schools through at least Thanksgiving on Wednesday.
