As New York approaches to reopen more and more companies, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report on Friday emphasizing that “universal masking and avoiding non-essential indoor spaces are recommended to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.”
The state is about to relax restrictions in several areas – on March 22, outdoor residential gatherings can more than double, from 10 to 25. Social meeting places in public places can go from 50 people to 100 people indoors and 200 people outdoors.
With certain COVID-19 testing requirements in place, weddings can accommodate 150 people starting on March 15th, and events in arts and entertainment venues can include 150 people indoors starting on April 2nd. The internal dinner was reopened with 35% of the capacity.
The cinemas reopened Friday in New York City with an occupancy rate of 25%, or a maximum of 50 customers. On April 2, the city’s arts and entertainment venues can begin reopening at 33% capacity, with internal capacity for 100-150 participants. Internal events will be limited to 100 people, regardless of the size of the venue, unless the venue can administer the COVID-19 tests to all participants, in which case the limit is increased to 150 guests.
Meanwhile, the CDC warned that indoor meals were associated with an increase in COVID-19 cases, with cases increasing 41 to 100 days after the meal policy was instituted. More urgently, allowing meals indoors is linked to an increase in daily mortality rates within 61 to 100 days after the policy is instituted, the CDC said.
The increase in the number of COVID-19 cases may be due to factors such as the increase in the number of restaurants that choose to reopen for indoor meals, as well as restaurant customers are more willing to eat indoors over time. said the CDC.
“Restricting any on-site meals in restaurants can help to limit the transmission of COVID-19 to the community and reduce the growth rates of cases and deaths,” said the CDC, along with strict and consistent masking policies.
The National Restaurant Association said in a statement on Friday that the CDC study was “an ill-informed attack on the industry most affected by the pandemic,” the New York Times reported, and the researchers did not take into account external factors, such as other reopenings. of companies that could have an effect on COVID-19 rates.
“If a positive correlation between ice cream sales and shark attacks is found, it does not mean that ice cream causes shark attacks,” the association said in a statement.