New York has received more than 25,000 complaints of businesses not complying with the state’s rules on reopening, like appropriate social distancing and safety guidelines, in recent weeks — particularly at bars and restaurants, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Sunday.
Cuomo said New York has also received a significant number of reports of social distancing violations statewide, but especially in the borough of Manhattan and the Hamptons on Long Island.
He said that if local governments don’t crack down on those violations, the infection rate could spike in those regions, forcing a pause or roll-back to the state’s reopening plan.
"I am not going to allow situations to exist that we know have a high likelihood of increasing the spread of the virus,” Cuomo said.
But if the threat of a reopening roll-back isn’t enough, Cuomo warned that restaurants and bars found to be out of compliance with the state’s rules risk losing their liquor license. Investigators from the State Liquor Authority are reviewing the complaints, he said.
"We are not kidding around with this,” Cuomo said. You're talking about jeopardizing people's lives.”
The rate of infection hasn’t seen a significant increase in regions that have reopened over the last month, according to state data. New York is now tracking infection rates in each region every day to monitor the prevalence of COVID-19.
New York will, meanwhile, extend the open enrollment period for the state’s health exchange another month, Cuomo said Sunday. Individuals will now be eligible to enroll in health care through July 15.
That comes as the number of deaths related to COVID-19 hit another low since the peak of the disease in April. An additional 23 people died from the disease Saturday, the latest data from the state. About 800 people died from the disease each day at its peak.
The number of people hospitalized with the disease reached the lowest level Saturday since March 20, Cuomo said, with 1,657 still requiring treatment. Of those, 346 are currently intubated.
Given the continued positive trend of the disease in New York, Cuomo said low-risk youth sports will be allowed to start July 6. Those include baseball, softball, field hockey, cross country, crew, and gymnastics. Each child will be allowed to have two spectators at events.