New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) speaks at a press conference about COVID-19.
Michael Brochstein | Barcroft Media | Getty Images
New York City will not allow indoor dining to resume next week as originally scheduled due to growing coronavirus outbreaks in other parts of the country, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday.
“We see a lot of problems and we particularly see problems revolving around people going back to bars and restaurants indoors. Indoors is the problem more and more, the science is showing it more and more,” de Blasio said at a press briefing.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday that he would consider delaying the city’s reopening of indoor dining areas and would make a final decision on Wednesday. The governor is scheduled to hold a press briefing later
New York has allowed regions of the state to reopen in phases. New York City is expected to begin its “Phase 3” reopening on July 6.
Other businesses including nail salons were previously scheduled to reopen next week. De Blasio did not comment on the status of those roepening efforts.
“The data in this city and this state’s been getting better all the time, but the data around the country has been getting worse and worse and worse and the last few days, shockingly worse,” de Blasio said.
He added that White House health advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci’s comments on Tuesday regarding the potential for the U.S. to surpass 100,000 new infections per day if the outbreak continues at its current pace as part of the reasoning behind his decision.
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