Cuomo Closes Schools, Businesses In Rockland, Orange Hot Spots

ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY — Fighting coronavirus clusters in Orange and Rockland counties, as well as in Nassau County, New York City and Binghamton, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday the state will use a three-zone approach to keep the infection from spreading.

At the center of the outbreaks in the Hudson Valley, the red zones, the new rules close all schools, shut down all but essential businesses, allow only takeout from restaurants and limit houses of worship to a maximum of 10 people for gatherings.

In the immediate area surrounding each hot spot, houses of worship are limited to 33 percent capacity or a maximum of 25 people. High-risk nonessential businesses such as gyms and personal care must be closed. Restaurants may be open for outdoor dining, with a maximum of four people per table.

In an outer buffer zone, houses of worship are limited to 50 percent capacity and mass gatherings are limited to a maximum of 25 people. Also, schools in that zone must do weekly coronavirus testing.

The state has raised fines for sponsors of mass gatherings to $15,000.

The red zones are about a mile in diameter; the orange and yellow zones go out about another mile.

The rules could go into effect as soon as Wednesday and no later than Friday. Local governments may need that time to notify local businesses inside the cluster, Cuomo said. Testing for schools in the yellow zone starts next week.

Basically, these clusters are due to mass gatherings, Cuomo said, not businesses and schools.

"Many of these communities have a large Orthodox population," he said. "I understand the imposition this is going to place on them. I thank them for their help and cooperation."

The state has created maps of the clusters and the zones which it is sharing with local governments:

"We know where the cases are and we know what we have to do," Cuomo said. "We're all citizens and it's not government's job to catch you. It's the citizen's obligation to do the right thing."

The announcement comes on the heels of the order by Orange County Health Commissioner Dr. Irina Gelman, issued late Monday, which closed all public, private and religious schools and educational facilities in the village of Kiryas Joel and the town of Palm Tree. It followed news that the positivity rate for coronavirus testing in Palm Tree had topped 27 percent on Friday.

Cuomo said state officials would consult with local governments on the maps on Tuesday.

"I want the locals to give us the personnel so the state can do the enforcement," he said.

Rockland County Executive Ed Day said afterward they expected to receive the map by the end of Tuesday and send notifications to businesses, schools and houses of worship in the zones by the end of Wednesday.

"I applaud the announcement of the Cluster Action Initiative by the Governor this afternoon; he clearly heard the concerns expressed by myself and other County Executives during our daily Control Room calls," Day said in a statement. "We in Rockland County government stand ready to support these actions as we are able. The restrictions he announced are measured and clearly focused on the areas where this disease is spreading. These areas will be minimal in size but logical in scope. I have already reached out to local municipalities, police departments and the Sheriff’s Office to ask for their support of these efforts."

In Rockland, the number of active cases of the coronavirus jumped to 1,409 on Monday, up from 1,072 on Friday.

According to the state's dashboards, there were 90 people hospitalized in the Hudson Valley with COVID-19 on Monday, up from only 39 a month ago.

Still, across the Hudson Valley, Monday's test results were not as dramatic as those posted over the weekend: