US - New York: NYC to adopt restrictions in 20 zip code areas effective Wednesday, October 7, 2020

[sharon sanders]

Fearing 2nd Wave, N.Y.C. Will Adopt Restrictions in Hard-Hit Areas

Oct. 4, 2020Updated 7:23 p.m. ET


But under the new restrictions, Mr. de Blasio would close all schools — public and private — in nine of the city’s 146 ZIP codes, as well as all nonessential businesses. Indoor and outdoor dining in restaurants in those areas will not be allowed.

“Today, unfortunately, is not a day for celebration,” Mr. de Blasio said. “Today is a more difficult day.

The nine areas have large populations of Orthodox Jews — communities where the virus has been spreading rapidly and where public health officials have struggled to persuade many residents to adhere to guidelines on mask wearing and social distancing.

Those areas all have had positivity rates in recent days of more than 3 percent of those tested — and some as high as 8 percent — in contrast to the city’s overall rate of about 1.5 percent. Public health officials have been worried that the uptick in cases would jump from Orthodox neighborhoods to others, leading to a resurgence of the virus across the city.

In another 11 ZIP codes, the city would allow schools to remain open but would ban indoor dining, the mayor said.

more...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/04/nyregion/nyc-covid-shutdown-zip-codes.html

 

[sharon sanders]

Backlash Grows in Orthodox Jewish Areas Over Virus Crackdown by Cuomo


Rules that would have a pronounced impact on synagogues were met with protests and fires in a part of Brooklyn seeing an uptick in cases.

snip

Their frustration was reflected on the street, where video shared widely on social media showed hundreds of Hasidic men, most of them without masks, gathering after midnight and setting fires along 13th Avenue in the Borough Park neighborhood. The crowd soon turned violent, with a mob angrily swarming at least one Hasidic man they believed to be disloyal to the community.

snip

But the anger was not limited to the Orthodox Jewish community. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, which has 1.5 million followers and 210 churches in Brooklyn and Queens, said it was taken by surprise by the governor’s announcement. Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio of Brooklyn condemned the new rules as “outrageous” in a statement on Tuesday night.

more..

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/07/...yc-coronavirus.html?smid=tw-nytimes&smtyp=cur