Governor Andrew Cuomo did not balk at the idea that New York could face another widespread shutdown if the state does not reverse course over the next two or three weeks.
Hospitalizations continue to rise, and he said during his briefing that upwards of 11,000 people could be hospitalized relatively soon. The difference between the spring and fall surges is that one was contained largely downstate.
Earlier this year, New York City was most-effected by the virus and hospitalizations. Hospitals in Upstate New York were not stressed. However, that’s entirely turned in the fall – with the Finger Lakes region leading the entire state in this category.
The region had most individuals hospitalized as of Monday, as well as the highest rate of population hospitalized. Both of these metrics are those used by Governor Cuomo to determine whether region’s or areas will be shut down.
When press about whether the micro-cluster approach is working or not, Cuomo said there was no alternative. “If we do not change the trajectory, we could very well be headed to shutdown,” the Governor said. He says since the summer months, state officials have worked to strike a balance between economic activity and public safety.
On Friday, he warned Upstate regions that big changes could be coming. In fact, he said that new maps would be released on cluster zones. By the math, there were parts of the Finger Lakes region that had reached prior red zone classification. Instead, Governor Cuomo issued a warning.
“Shutdown is something to worry about. That is really something to worry about because all these businesses [will be] closed,” he said during the briefing. “We go back to where we were. All non-essential businesses closed. They go to zero.”
Finger Lakes region will not move into ‘Red Zone’, but it leads NYS in hospitalizations
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