Visitation Will Be Allowed Again At Nursing Homes: Cuomo

LONG ISLAND, NY — With the rate of coronavirus positivity continuing its steady decline — New York's positivity rate stood at 3.4 percent on Friday — Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced new reopenings.

New York City restaurants will open from the current 25 percent capacity to 35 percent capacity next Friday, February 26, consistent with the 35 percent capacity currently in place in New Jersey, Cuomo said.

Nursing homes will once again open to visitation, Cuomo announced Friday.

With 100 percent of nursing home residents offered vaccinations and 73 percent now vaccinated, the New York State Department of Health, in accordance with Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has recommended reopening visitation in nursing homes, Cuomo said.

The health department recommends visitors take a rapid test before entry; it will provide those rapid tests free to nursing homes, Cuomo said.

In addition, Cuomo said he agreed with President Joe Biden that schools must reopen to in-person learning five days a week. Vaccination of teachers is critical to making that happen, he said.

"Students deserve in-class teaching," Cuomo said, adding remote learning, when the studies are done, will show discrimination in education, with poorer families, as well as Black and Hispanic families, not doing as well due to a lack of laptops, internet, and individuals to help them. "Every day they are not in class is furtherance of discrimination. The irony is that education was once the great equalizer."

Parents also need children in school before the economy can reopen, Cuomo said. And, he said, keeping people at home has led to ancillary issues including domestic violence, substance abuse, and mental health concerns.

As for colleges and universities, those that are testing at least 25 percent of total on-campus students, staff, and faculty will not be required to go on pause unless the positivity rate exceeds 5 percent during a rolling 14-day period. For those that are not testing 25 percent, those facilities must go on pause if 100 people test positive over a rolling 14-day period.

Cuomo also announced the creation of 11 rapid testing sites in New York City, with more to come. The cost for those tests will be less than $30 and the test will take 30 minutes or less, he said.

Rapid testing will help to reopen the economy until herd immunity is reached through vaccination, probably by June or July, Cuomo said.