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Failure To Social Distance To Blame For New COVID Cases, N.Y. Officials Say

Bebeto Matthews
/
AP
People wear masks and maintain social distance to help stop the spread of new coronavirus, while waiting in line to enter a store in New York on Tuesday.

New York health officials say that the vast majority of new coronavirus cases are not coming from vulnerable hotspots or essential workers in high-risk frontline jobs. Most new hospitalizations are people who aren’t social distancing.

Health officials surveyed New York hospitals and found that 66% of the new COVID-19 patients came from home. Hardly any of them took the train; most were unemployed. Governor Andrew Cuomo called the revelation shocking.

“Everything is closed down. Government has done everything is could. Society has done everything it could. Now it’s up to you. Are you using a mask, are you doing the hand sanitizer?”
 
Results showed that hospitalizations predominantly impacted those with pre-existing conditions and people of color. Also, it’s unclear how well prison populations were represented in the survey. But Cuomo said for hospitalizations to fall further people have to get better at social distancing.

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Charles is senior reporter focusing on special projects. He has won numerous awards including an IRE award, three SPJ Public Service Awards, and a National Murrow. He was also a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists and Third Coast Director’s Choice Award.
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