Governor says restaurants and bars can only do take-outs or deliveries after 8 p.m. today
Movie theaters, gyms and casinos all to close temporarily at 8 p.m.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced this morning that crowd capacity for social and recreational gatherings will be limited to up to 50 people, effective at 8 p.m. today.
This follows updated guidance that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued yesterday recommending the cancellation or postponement of in-person events consisting of 50 people or more.
Cuomo and the governors of Connecticut and New Jersey made a joint announcement to try to limit crowd sizes in the three states.
The three governors announced restaurants and bars will close for on-premise service and move to take-out and delivery services only. These establishments will be provided a waiver for carry-out alcohol. These measures will take effect at 8 p.m. today.
Finally, the three governors said they will temporarily close movie theaters, gyms and casinos, effective at 8 p.m. today.
This uniform approach to social distancing is meant to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, Cuomo said in a news release.
“Our primary goal right now is to slow the spread of this virus so that the wave of new infections doesn’t crash our healthcare system, and everyone agrees social distancing is the best way to do that,” Governor Cuomo said. “This is not a war that can be won alone, which is why New York is partnering with our neighboring states to implement a uniform standard that not only keeps our people safe but also prevents ‘state shopping’ where residents of one state travel to another and vice versa. I have called on the federal government to implement nationwide protocols but in their absence we are taking this on ourselves.”
