Cuomo imposes new Covid-19 restrictions on restaurants, gyms

As coronavirus cases rise, larger lockdown looms

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty)
Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty)

New York is reverting back to its former coronavirus-imposed restrictions.

Any establishment with a state liquor license, including bars and restaurants, along with gyms, must close at 10 p.m., Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday.

The statewide restrictions will go into effect Friday.

“NYS is taking action to stop the spread in response to rising COVID numbers,” Cuomo said in a tweet.

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Covid-19 cases in New York have hit levels not seen since the spring, with the infection rate seven-day average in the city rising above 2 percent, and the statewide infection rate close to 3 percent.

Bars and restaurants are currently allowed to operate both indoors and outdoors under 25 percent capacity. A previously imposed midnight curfew was challenged by a lawsuit, which alleged that coronavirus does not “behave as a vampire” and therefore asserted that the restrictions are unnecessary.