People ride a tandem bicycle with face masks along the Coney Island promenade in Brooklyn, New York, while the coronavirus (COVID-19) disease continues, May 4, 2020.
Shannon Stapleton | Reuters
New York is continuing to reopen more businesses amid a decline in Covid-19 cases after the holidays, but the state is keeping an eye out for troublesome variants of the virus that could block its progress.
Domestic family entertainment centers, such as arcades, trampoline parks or laser market facilities, will be re-admitted from March 26 with a capacity of 25% with additional precautions such as social distance, mask wear and regular cleaning, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.
Outdoor parks could reopen on April 9 with 33% capacity with similar requirements, and parents could plan to return to overnight summer camps in June, the Democratic governor said in a call with reporters.
“It only happens in June and we hope that the current track will remain until June – one eye on these interesting variants,” Cuomo said of the summer camps. “But they may plan to reopen.”
The governor has gradually begun to lift more restrictions on businesses over the past few weeks as the state rolls out more doses of Covid-19 vaccines and cases continue to decline due to a boom after the holidays.
The state reports an average of 7,949 cases of Covid per day, a decrease of more than 8% compared to a week ago and the lowest figure since early December, according to a CNBC analysis of data compiled by Johns Hopkins University is.
Last week, Cuomo said large stadiums and arenas in New York would reopen at the end of February with preliminary tests, a strategy where the state “wants to lead the way.” Over the weekend, New York restaurants were able to reopen their indoor dining areas with 25% capacity.
However, new and highly contagious Covid-19 variants could reverse New York’s progress or hamper its planned reopening. The governor said the state has now identified 82 cases of Covid-19 with the variant first identified in the UK in December, known as B.1.1.7., With another 12 cases added since Saturday . He said most of the new cases were found in the New York area.
Federal health officials have repeatedly asked Americans to keep their hats out amid the highly contagious variants first found in the UK, South Africa and Brazil.
So far, the US has identified at least 1,277 Covid-19 cases with the B.1.1.7 variant first found in the UK, 19 of the B.1.351 variant found in South Africa and 3 cases of the P.1 variant occurring in Brazil, according to recent data from the CDC.
“I think we need to assume that the next wave of business growth, as far as we have it, is going to be at B.1.1.7, and that’s something I think everyone needs to be even more careful about,” said Andy Slavitt, senior adviser at the White House, Covid-19, told MSNBC on Monday.
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said Wednesday that the nationwide cases of Covid-19 have now been declining for five consecutive weeks, and new hospitalizations have also been declining since early January.
However, the spread of coronavirus variants that are more transmissible could jeopardize the progress we have made over the past month if we make uncertain, ‘Walensky said during a White House Covid-19 press briefing.