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Cuomo Bans Indoor Dining in NYC, Lamont Watches

Restaurant Worker Personal Protective Equipment
Charles Krupa
/
AP
New York City restaurants will be limited to take-out only.

Governor Andrew Cuomo has suspended indoor dining in New York City, but he did not announce major changes to the zone restrictions for communities in other parts of the state.Cuomo said he expects to make changes next week to the state’s micro cluster strategy for limiting capacity or closures based on regional Coronavirus positivity rates.

"Outside of New York City and in the orange zones, we’re going to watch the indoor dining data, the numbers are down in the chart," Cuomo said, "we’re going to watch over this weekend and we’ll make any adjustments next week if the data suggests."

Cuomo has also allowed gyms, barbers and salons in orange zones to reopen, but with capacity limited to 25% and weekly testing.

“Gyms and salons, as you also see, they are not the problem that they were, we have restrictions. The restrictions made a difference. We’re going to allow them to operate in orange zones with reduced capacity and additional testing," Cuomo said.

In Connecticut, Governor Ned Lamont says he’ll continue to permit indoor dining, despite Cuomo’s plan.

“If you close down restaurants, where do people go? They don’t stop, you know, eating indoors. They just go to a different environment," Lamont said. "But we are watching this carefully.”

The decision marks a departure from the regional cooperation Lamont emphasized early in the pandemic, where he worked to coordinate reopening plans with New York and New Jersey. 

Lamont notes that indoor dining is prohibited only in New York City’s five boroughs, not in the New York counties that border Connecticut or on Long Island.

Besides, he said restaurant reservations in Connecticut have been on a steady decline.

As WSHU Public Radio’s award-winning senior political reporter, Ebong Udoma draws on his extensive tenure to delve deep into state politics during a major election year.