Cuomo threatens to bring back lockdown

NEW YORK’S governor has warned he could roll back reopening in parts of the state after receiving 25,000 complaints about businesses violating recently relaxed coronavirus rules.

Andrew Cuomo said he would close down Manhattan and the Hamptons on Long Island again if their local governments did not do a better job reining in residents who were not properly social distancing and wearing masks.

“If we have a high number of violations of the policy which is tantamount to a high likelihood of the spread of the virus, and the local governments are not monitoring policing, yes there is a very real possibility that we would roll back the reopening in those areas,” he said. “The only alternative would be to pause the entire reopening.”

New York was among the last of the states to begin the reopening process.

Phase 1 last Monday saw construction and manufacturing reopen as well as collection from many retail stores.

Although groups of up to 10 people can gather in public while staying 6ft apart, outdoor dining is off limits. Large crowds were photographed outside bars in New York City on the first weekend out of lockdown.

Mr Cuomo wrote on Twitter: “Don’t make me come down there...” in response to a video that showed drinkers spilling into the street from bars in Manhattan on Friday night.

The office of Bill de Blasio, the city’s mayor, fired back at Mr Cuomo’s threat to shut down the borough, saying “imprisoning people” was not the answer.

“These businesses are allowed to be open per the governor’s guidelines and we don’t believe imprisoning people or taking away their livelihood is the answer,” a City Hall spokesman said. Some 30,000 New Yorkers have lost their lives and more than 330,000 have been infected since March, with the state the worst hit in the US.

Just 23 deaths from Covid-19 were reported on Sunday, the state’s lowest number since the pandemic hit.

“We are not going back to that dark place,” Mr Cuomo vowed, referring to the peak of the pandemic, when nearly 800 people died in one day.

♦the US yesterday withdrew emergency-use authorizations for two Covid-19 treatments, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, citing their lack of efficacy and safety concerns.