New York City will not allow indoor dining to resume next week as originally scheduled due to growing coronavirus outbreaks in other parts of the country, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday.
“We see a lot of problems and we particularly see problems revolving around people going back to bars and restaurants indoors. Indoors is the problem more and more, the science is showing it more and more,” de Blasio said at a press briefing.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday he would consider delaying the city’s reopening of indoor dining areas and would make a final decision on Wednesday. The governor is scheduled to hold a press briefing later.
De Blasio said outdoor dining, which was allowed to open on June 22, has “unquestionably” been a great hit and “outdoors has been working.” The city will allow its beaches and some outdoor pools to reopen starting Wednesday, he said.
The percentage of people testing positive in the city has remained steady at around 2%, which is a “very very good number,” de Blasio said. The figure has remained below the city’s threshold of 15% since early May.
New York has allowed regions of the state to reopen in phases. New York City is expected to begin its “Phase 3” reopening on Monday.
Other businesses including nail salons were previously scheduled to reopen next week. De Blasio did not comment on the status of those plans.
New York has reported nearly 624 new daily cases based on a seven-day rolling average, which is a 3% decline compared with a week ago, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
“The data in this city and this state’s been getting better all the time, but the data around the country has been getting worse and worse and worse, and the last few days, shockingly worse,” de Blasio said.
He cited White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci’s comments on Tuesday that the U.S. could surpass 100,000 new infections per day as part of the reasoning behind his decision.
New York City joins a list of other states and localities walking back or pausing their reopening plans. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy announced on Monday that he would also delay reopening indoor dining in the state, which was planned for Thursday.
Florida, Texas and Arizona have closed bars in their states as the coronavirus shows signs of accelerating there.
