Cuomo lifts COVID rules as New York hits 70% vaccinated

 Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that New York is lifting nearly all COVID-19 restrictions, after the state on Monday cleared the threshold of 70 percent of adult residents having received at least one vaccine dose.

“What does 70% mean? That means that we can now return to life as we know,” Cuomo said Tuesday.

Capacity restrictions will be lifted in most settings, and mask and cleaning protocols will also be relaxed. Restrictions will be maintained in some areas, such as nursing homes, hospitals and schools, the governor said.

“All the state-mandated restrictions are lifted on commercial social settings sports and recreation construction, manufacturing, retail buildings, all across the board we can get back to living and businesses can open, because the state mandates are gone, social gathering restrictions capacity restrictions the health screenings,  [and] the cleaning and disinfecting protocols,” said Cuomo.

The full reopening will lift capacity restrictions in most settings.

Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

Masks will still be required on mass transit and in taxis and ride-hails since that is a CDC recommendation, but they are not required indoors anywhere anymore by the state of New York.

Cuomo made the announcement during his final COVID-19 briefing at One World Trade Center, where he handed out awards to New York union leaders at a campaign rally-style event.

Cities across the state, including in New York City, Nyack in the Hudson Valley, Syracuse and Albany will hold fireworks shows Tuesday at about 9 p.m., to celebrate the milestone, according to sources, Cuomo and reports.

“We’re no longer just surviving,” Cuomo went on. “Life is about thriving. Life is about seeing people, life is about loving, life is about celebrating life is about enjoying life is about interacting. And now we get back to living life.”

“Tonight, we’re going to light all the state assets, Empire State Building and blue and gold,” Cuomo said. “And we’re going to have fireworks all across the state of New York tonight to celebrate and honor the essential workers.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio, when asked about fireworks Tuesday morning, said he had not gotten any details about it yet. 

“We’re waiting for more information on that, obviously want to make sure that the NYPD and everyone else relevant is coordinated with,” de Blasio told a reporter at his daily briefing.

The Village of Nyack posted on social media that there would be one in its memorial park, and Lake Placid will be home to a show of its own at 9:15 p.m., according to a report.

The restriction lifting comes after Cuomo on June 7 first announced that “virtually all” state-mandated COVID-19 rules in the Empire State would soon be a thing of the past.

“When we hit 70 percent, then I feel comfortable saying to the people of this state we can relax virtually all restrictions,” he said at the time.

Following New York’s reopening, nursing homes, hospitals and schools will still have capacity restrictions.

Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

On Monday, the governor said, citing CDC data, that 69.9 percent of New York adults had received at least one jab, which put New York a hair shy of the 70 percent benchmark.

De Blasio said Tuesday he’s “very comfortable” with the imminent complete New York state reopening.

“More than half of the city [is] on their way to full vaccination. It’s time, I’m very comfortable that it’s time,” de Blasio said during his daily press conference.

https://nypost.com/2021/06/15/andrew-cuomo-expected-to-announce-full-new-york-reopening/