Governor Cuomo Updates New Yorkers on State's Progress During COVID-19 Pandemic - OCTOBER 4, 2020

 

New York State to Directly Enforce State Guidance in Hot Spot ZIP Codes 

20 ZIP Codes in Areas with Hot Spots - Brooklyn, Queens and Rockland and Orange Counties - Have 4.8 Percent Positivity Rate  

Statewide Positivity Excluding ZIP Codes in Hot Spot Areas is 0.91 Percent; 1.10 Percent with Hotspot ZIP Codes Included 

14 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday 

SLA and State Police Task Force Visits 785 Establishments; Observes 4 Establishments Not in Compliance 

 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today updated New Yorkers on the state's progress during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In the top 20 ZIP codes in areas that have seen recent outbreaks - Brooklyn, Queens and Rockland and Orange Counties - 5,392 tests were conducted, yielding 261 positives or a 4.8 percent positivity rate. In the remainder of the state, 104,937 tests were conducted yielding 961 positives or a 0.91 percent positivity rate.

"Local governments have not done an effective job of enforcement in these hot spot ZIP codes. The State will be doing aggressive enforcement starting tomorrow," Governor Cuomo said. "As we saw with bars and restaurants, when the State initiated enforcement actions compliance greatly increased. However, the State cannot take over effective enforcement for every jurisdiction and if a local jurisdiction cannot or will not perform effective enforcement of violating entities, notify the State and we will close all business activity in the hot spots where the local governments cannot do compliance.

"I'm concerned about the lack of testing in the schools," Governor Cuomo continued. "If the localities do not do testing immediately in the schools in those areas, the State will close them immediately. We all want schools to reopen IF they can reopen safely. I have assured the parents of this State that I would not send my child to a school that I didn't know was safe. Without testing we can't assure parents and teachers of the safety of that school."

The governor also announced that New York State will deploy personnel to directly enforce state guidance within the hot spot ZIP codes. Enforcement has already begun and will increase this week. The new effort is modelled on the State Liquor Authority and State Police Task Force that has been enforcing state guidance at bars and restaurants in New York City and on Long Island. Local businesses that violate the law can be subject to fines and closures.

New York State continues to track clusters with a particular focus on areas where there are hot spot, cluster situations. Within the top 20 ZIP codes in counties with recent outbreaks - Brooklyn, Queens and Rockland and Orange Counties - the average rate of positive tests is 4.8 percent. The rate of positive tests for the remainder of New York State, not counting these 20 ZIP codes, is 0.91 percent. These 20 ZIP codes contained 21 percent of all positive cases in New York State yesterday, but represent only 6.7 percent of the state's population.