Coronavirus ‘Red Zone’ Changes Coming Wednesday, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — The map of New York City’s coronavirus “red zones” under local lockdowns could be redrawn this week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

“The numbers have come down, particularly in Queens,” he said during a Monday teleconference. “We can adjust the zones, you can make them bigger, you can make them smaller because you have the numbers block-by-block basically. So, you can change the contours.”

Cuomo said he’ll make an announcement Wednesday about “changes” to the red zones.

The new color-coded system began to contain what Cuomo called emerging “microclusters” of coronavirus cases in Brooklyn, Queens and elsewhere in the state. It set up varying degrees of local restrictions in three tiers capped by red zones with closures of schools and non-essential businesses.

Mayor Bill de Blasio earlier Monday said cases in Brooklyn and Queens clusters continue to level off, but he opined that it’s still too early to tell if restrictions will lift.

Cuomo, as he often does, contradicted de Blasio’s assessment and reiterated that the state has sole decision-making authority over the zones. He said coronavirus positivity rates in Brooklyn’s red zone have dipped from 5.8 percent to 5.2 percent.

Queens has fared much better, he said. Its red zones’ rates fell from 3.3 percent to 2.3 percent in a week, he said.

Officials will look at the numbers Monday and Tuesday, as well as assess “circumstances” in the zones, Cuomo said. The lines on the maps will be redrawn as discrete areas improve, he said.

“That’s what we’re looking at doing now,” he said.