Gov. Andrew Cuomo says the numbers on coronavirus in New York are looking good.
There were fewer than 30 deaths in the last 24 hours, and hospitalizations around New York are at their lowest levels in weeks.
As a result, the state is going to allow bigger gatherings of people, Cuomo announced Monday.
“We're going to modify Phase Three given this new data, and we're going to allow gatherings up to 25 people in Phase Three, which is up from ten people,” the governor said.
What You Need To Know
- Cuomo says threat from coronavirus now from outside city.
- Increases size of gatherings in Phase Three from 10 to 25 people.
- Cuomo signs new police reform bills.
Video from over the weekend showed people meeting in large groups and drinking outdoors, some in Manhattan. Cuomo said he called some bars and restaurant owners personally and threatened them with the loss of their liquor licenses.
Cuomo says the bigger threat now is that cases are on the rise in 22 other states, a reversal from how the landscape looked just a few weeks ago.
“They wanted to blockade New York,” he said. “Fast forward 106 days, we have the lowest infection rates…and my health officials are saying, ‘I hope people from Florida don't come here.’”
Cuomo also sighed three new police reform bills passed by the legislature last week.
One will require police officers to report a weapons discharge within six hours.
Another requires police departments to keep track of demographic data on all arrests, including race and ethnicity.
A third bill requires officers to provide medical attention when a person being arrested asks for it.
Last Friday, Cuomo signed a package of police reforms, including the repeal of 50-A, which shielded police disciplinary records from public view.
“The major reform that we’re going through in New York, that is going to be the first the nation, and I think really show people across this country how to change the system, how to hear the anger, hear the outrage, that vented with Mr. Floyd’s death but which has been percolating for years and years and years,” the governor said.
So far, Cuomo has signed eight of the ten reform bills the legislature passed last week.
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