New York restaurants will be able to reopen their dining rooms at a reduced capacity of 25% of the total as of Valentine’s Day (Feb. 14) after the city’s Covid-19 positivity rate drops from 5%, the governor announced Friday. , Andrew Cuomo.
“After the holidays, the recovery (in infections) has fallen to 4.9% and all models predict that this number will continue to decline,” said the governor.
Last November, Cuomo banned consumption in bars and restaurants, after the positivity rate exceeded 5% and after several months in which these establishments were able to operate indoors with a capacity of 25% than normal.
All this time, the restaurant businesses have been allowed to open terraces, a measure considered insufficient by these businesses as the city’s low temperatures do not invite consumption abroad, despite the fact that many restaurants have built covered terraces and provide heating.
Cuomo’s announcement coincides with a particularly freezing day in the city with skyscrapers, with -6 degrees Celsius and a wind chill of -14 degrees.
Weddings will also be held from March 15 in large stores with a maximum of 150 guests and 50% capacity. The only condition is that all guests must be tested for COVID before the banquet and it must be approved by the Ministry of Health.
“Promise yourself on Valentine’s Day and get married on March 15,” the politician joked, saying that with these dates he hoped to give the different companies enough time to prepare.