New York state will now require residents to wear masks, or face coverings, when they’re in a public area where they can’t maintain an appropriate social distance from others, like a crowded street or grocery store, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
The rule, which takes effect Friday, will not apply when individuals are in public areas where they’re either alone or distanced from others, like empty streets or parks.
“We have to continue to stop the spread, and this is a constant calibration,” Cuomo said. “If you’re going to be in public and you can not maintain social distancing, then have a mask, and put the mask on when you are not in socially distant places.”
That’s to reduce the rate of infection in New York from COVID-19, which tested positive in another 11,571 people in the state Tuesday, according to numbers released Wednesday. That brings the total number of cases in New York to 213,779.
There will be no penalty, for now, for ignoring the rule, Cuomo said. But if it’s reported that individuals are largely out of compliance, the state may consider a civil penalty, he said.
The idea is to reduce the number of people infected by the disease, which would lower the number of hospitalizations, which would, in turn, save lives.
An additional 752 people died from the disease in New York Tuesday, bringing the total number of fatalities in the state to 11,586.
The rest of the state’s data points for tracking the disease appeared to be headed in a more positive direction. The net number of hospitalizations went down again Tuesday, and the three-day average also decreased.
The net number of intubations from the disease also dipped slightly, with a decrease of seven. An additional 1,908 people were discharged from the hospital Tuesday.
Cuomo said again Wednesday that the state is confident it’s reached a plateau in the number of hospitalizations from COVID-19, which dipped to a total of 18,335. It’s been flat for the past week, relative to last month’s trend.
As state officials grow more confident that they’ve reached the height of the disease in New York, Cuomo says they’ve begun to plan how businesses could reopen down the line.
That will be based largely on two factors, Cuomo said: how essential a business is, and the level of risk of spreading COVID-19 if the business is allowed to reopen. The state will gradually phase areas of business back into society, he said.
“You basically have a matrix where the lower risk of infection spread and the higher nature of essential services are the businesses that you would start prioritizing,” Cuomo said. “That’s how we will inform our economic reopening.”
The state hasn’t set a date for when the first round of businesses would reopen. That’ll be up to a council of 18 officials formed earlier this week by a coalition of six states in the northeast. They’re expected to issue recommendations in a few weeks.
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