Cuomo Says Houses of Worship May Have 25% Occupancy in Phase 2

New York – When New York City begins its reopening on Monday, it’ll be just two weeks away from allowing more than ten people in houses of worship.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that he was moving up the time shuls and houses of worship may have 25 percent of occupancy, rather than the total of ten people allowed now. Instead of having to wait until the final of four phases, it may allow a quarter of the allowable occupancy under the second phase.

Reopening goes in four stages, divided by two weeks of waiting. So, for example, New York City becomes the last of the state’s ten regions to enter phase one on Monday. If Covid-19 rates remain stable, phase two will happen in two weeks, and shuls may increase the permissible number of congregants.

The state on Friday reached the lowest number of hospitalizations and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The number of total hospitalizations was down to 2,603 from a record-high of 18,825 during the peak of the pandemic, and 35 people died, down from a record-high of 800 just eight weeks ago.

 

In New York City, the percent of positive tests per day dropped from a high of 57 percent to 2 percent. In anticipation of the city's reopening, the state is deploying 1 million masks, as well as 25,000 gallons and 500,000 2 oz. bottles of sanitizer to the MTA.

“I've been asking all the experts who will talk to me,” Cuomo said at his daily press briefing on Saturday, “what is the lowest that number can go, and when it gets this low, it's really a question of how ... that hospital certifies as the cause of death.”

Photo by: Mike Groll/Office of Governor Andrew M. Cuomo