New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) is urging the New York City Police Department to crack down on violations of social distancing guidelines in bars and restaurants.
During a Monday call with reporters, Cuomo noted there were 19 social distancing violations on Sunday night alone. There were seven in the Bronx, one in Brooklyn, two in Manhattan, three in Queens, and six in Suffolk.
Cuomo called the violations a “serious issue” for New York and encouraged the NYPD to assist in enforcing social distancing guidelines.
“Again, New York City, we need the NYPD to step up. I understand the sheriff’s office is helpful and that’s good news but the sheriff’s office is relatively small – it’s like 150 people. NYPD is something like 35,000 people,” Cuomo said.
Listen to his comments below:
https://soundcloud.com/nygovcuomo/governor-cuomo-hosts-conference-call-and-provides-update-on-new-yorks-covid-19-response-081020
Cuomo acknowledged this issue as an enforcement issue rather than an informational issue.
“People have the information. They know what they’re supposed to be doing and what they’re not supposed to be doing,” Cuomo said.
He added, “This is an enforcement issue, and I need the local governments and the local police departments to do the enforcement. It’s that simple.”
New York, once the epicenter of the pandemic, has managed to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
There has been an average of 642 coronavirus cases per day over the past week, which is a 10 percent decrease from the average two weeks prior.
Since the onset of the outbreak, there have been at least 426,000 infections and more than 32,000 deaths in New York alone as of Tuesday afternoon.
The United States accounts for a quarter of the global total of 20 million cases, as IJR previously reported.
Coronavirus related deaths dropped last week after consistent increases over the past four weeks.
The number of new coronavirus infections has been on the decline for three straight weeks.