ALBANY, NY- On Monday, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo held a COVID-19 press conference and he told small business owners complaining about restrictions and limited capacity should be happy he has not shut the entire state down yet.
“You should be happy because if we don’t change the trajectory, we’re going to go to shutdown and then your business is going to close,” he said. “That, my friends, is a real problem. Worry about that because that is a real worry. Deaths are a worry and shutdown of the economy are the real worries and they are viable worries. This is not an overanxious personality. This is not far fetched. This is something to really worry about.”
On Monday, Cuomo initiated a restaurant ban in New York City, shutting down indoor dining and outdoor dining despite state data showing that restaurants are not the cause of the latest COVID-19 outbreak. He even later admitted and testified to it.
Responding to the criticisms of his action in New York City, Cuomo said, “I have all sorts of people who are concerned, “Well, you went down to 25 percent indoor dining. You cancelled indoor dining. You’re requesting more testing for people in salons. Lower capacity in gyms.” Yes, to all of that. That is not the real problem. That is not what you should worry about.”
Cuomo instead blamed the outbreak on indoor household gatherings such as Thanksgiving dinners, Christmas dinners and holiday celebrations.
“It’s really about household gatherings. And it is difficult to stop, and it is difficult to stop during the holiday season. And that’s the truth of this. And I think what we’re seeing now is, Thanksgiving came, there was travel, we then saw a surge and you see the number slightly tailing off. You’re running right into Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa, you’re going to see another bump. You’re then going to run right into New Year’s Eve, New Year’s Day, and you’re going to see another bump. And these are all going to be situations with small social gatherings. That’s the problem,” he said.