The latest restrictions imposed to stop the spread of the pandemic in New York State are as of this Tuesday history thanks to a vaccination rate that totally or partially reaches 70% of the adult population. Even if the city had returned to almost absolute normality by mid-Mayincluding the reopening of the subway 24 hours a day, the state governor, the Democrat Andrew Cuomo, has announced, with immediate effect, the end of the pending limitations, except in health establishments, nurseries and means of public transport, where a mask must still be used. The announcement comes on the same day that the United States has passed the threshold of 600,000 deaths from coronavirus.
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Uprised by the adoption of measures “that have proven to be correct,” Governor Cuomo stressed that the State has reached the goal of vaccinate with at least one dose to 70% of adults “Ahead of schedule”, a fact that was known this Monday. “70% vaccination is the national goal. 70% means that we can now return to life as we knew it, ”Cuomo said at a press conference often interrupted by applause.
Although the veteran governor is the subject of several investigations – one, specifically, due to the disparity in the number of deaths from covid-19 in nursing homes – he has always been the flag of his management of the pandemic. In fact, the end of the limitations will be celebrated tonight with the launching of fireworks in different parts of the State, a show that, he said, will also serve as a tribute to essential workers.
The ad is somewhat misleading, however. Federal government restrictions, issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), will remain in effect. What ends today are the restrictions in public environments, shopping centers and retail stores and sports and recreational facilities. “Businesses can open, because state orders are no longer in force, nor are capacity or capacity restrictions, nor is it necessary to measure the temperature nor is it necessary to continue with extraordinary cleaning and disinfection protocols”, such as those for example they kept the subway closed for months at dawn.
The coronavirus positivity rate is currently 0.4% in the state, the lowest number in the country, according to Cuomo. A radically different panorama of the city – and the State – as the epicenter of the pandemic in the United States exactly one year ago, in April and May 2020, when the prevalence of the virus forced the economy to shut down. Activity would not recover briefly until the fall, before the second wave in early 2021.
“In life you don’t have to go back to where you were because life goes on. We have learned a lot during this year, we have also accomplished a lot, and now the challenge must be to reimagine New York to be better than ever. We have to capitalize on this moment, to transform and remake New York, ”said Cuomo, who left it up to individuals and some businesses to adopt their own precautionary measures.
The governor He recalled that the State will continue to encourage the population not yet immunized to get vaccinated. The rate of vaccination has slowed down throughout the country, and the evolution of the pandemic, with the predominant delta or Indian variant in the country, is undecided. Especially when in the means of transport it was more than frequent to find travelers without a mask even before the bulk of the restrictions were lifted in May.
In the eye of the hurricane for weeks for allegations of sexual harassment, the assumption makeup of data of deceased in nursing homes and some irregularities around the book in which he narrated his successful In the management of the pandemic, Cuomo today made a triumphal entry into a landmark building in the city, the World Trade Center, to celebrate what he defined as “a day to remember.” Essential and health workers attended the staging, at least official, of the end of the pandemic in New York, to applaud him wildly. The Empire State Building and other iconic state buildings will be illuminated tonight with blue and gold lights, the colors of New York. The State thus joins California, where measures such as the safety distance of six feet (1.8 meters), the use of face masks and the limitation of capacity in businesses and restaurants, have also ended on Tuesday.
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