New Coronavirus Restrictions Likely In 'Matter Of Days': Mayor

NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio expects new, state-imposed coronavirus restrictions on the city to take effect sooner than later.

De Blasio treated the restrictions — which likely will shut down indoor dining in the city — as an all but foregone conclusion during his Tuesday briefing.

"I do expect restrictions in a matter of days," he said.

The ultimate authority on restrictions falls to the state and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who on Monday warned that New York City has five days to stabilize its surging coronavirus hospitalization numbers or else indoor dining will be entirely stopped.

Cuomo left some wiggle room to avert such a shut down, but de Blasio was much less sanguine.

De Blasio said the surge in COVID-19 cases, stemming largely but not entirely from an outbreak in Staten Island, needs to be addressed.

He also said based on his conversations with state officials that a 9 percent coronavirus positivity threshold for entirely shutting down schools in the city remains on the table — a prospect he, and likely many parents, wants to avert as schools gear up for reopening after another such disruptive closure.

"The goal here, of course, is to never get to that number and to use all the tools possible to protect people and make sure we fight back the virus," he said.

The city's average coronavirus positivity rate is 4.94 percent, with 2,624 confirmed and probable COVID-19 cases, the latest data shows.

Hospitalizations for COVID-19 stood at 2.30 people per 100,000 city residents.

The prospect of new restrictions, particularly on indoor dining, drew mixed reactions.

Jumaane Williams, the city's public advocate, critiqued Cuomo's approach to shutting down restaurants, implying it was too slow.

"It's so painful to see @NYGovCuomo making the exact same preventable mistakes he made in March, that proved to cost lives needlessly," he tweeted.

A prominent group of restaurateurs — the NYC Hospitality Alliance — on the other hand warned another forced closure would further devastate their industry.

Andrew Rigie, the group's executive director, said in a statement that Manhattan has a lower coronavirus positivity than Albany, Nassau, Suffolk and Westchester, but under the state's plan will close indoor dining while those counties will remain open.

“New York City’s highly regulated, reduced occupancy, well ventilated and COVID-19 compliant restaurants have gone above and beyond to protect the health and safety of their customers and employees," Rigie's statement read. "Indeed, Governor Cuomo said that 70% of recent cases come from “living room” spread, not restaurants, and the NYC Department of Health has zero data demonstrating that increased infection rates are a result of our highly restricted restaurants."