Schools, Synagogues Targeted In Hudson Valley Hot Spots

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — State officials will analyze coronavirus testing data from Orange and Rockland counties to decide if schools will be closed and religious gatherings will be restricted in hot spots where cases have skyrocketed.

Meanwhile, private and public schools in the hot spots in Brooklyn and Queens will be shut as of Tuesday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference Monday. He cited rampant violations of the state's coronavirus rules in the past few weeks and showed photos of massive religious gatherings in the Hudson Valley and New York City in recent days.

"We know religious institutions have been a problem," Cuomo said. "We know mass gatherings are the superspreader events. We know there have been mass gatherings going on in concert with religious institutions in these communities for weeks. For weeks. I don't mean little violations."

Cuomo said he will meet with members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish community tomorrow in Rockland, Orange, New York City and Nassau countries and will demand they enforce coronavirus rules.

"We're not going to make the same mistake twice," he said.

As of Friday, Rockland County reported 1,072 active coronavirus cases (confirmed positive tests within the past 14 days), a massive spike from 272 as of Sept. 16. In Orange County, where a 27.6 percent positive rate was reported in its hot spot ZIP code Friday, 48 people were hospitalized with either confirmed or suspected cases of COVID-19.

However, in Rockland and Orange counties, there's some disparity in the infection rates.

"We want to drill down on the data, but it's basically the same conversation," he said. "We may close those schools."

Orange County Executive Steven Neuhaus asked the health commissioner to request the state approve closing schools in the hot spots that have not tested children, under the state's public health law.

The state will take over enforcement oversight in all hot spot clusters, Cuomo said.

"Too many local governments are not doing enforcement," he said. "Warnings are not enforcement. 'Put a mask on or I will ticket you' is not enforcement. 'You're not supposed to have this many people in your store' — that's not enforcement."

Local governments will need to provide the personnel.

"These clusters have to be attacked," he said. "Picture the map as a map of dry grass and picture those hot spots as embers within the field of dry grass. The only course is to run to those embers and stamp them out immediately and dramatically. "

As officials decide on limiting gatherings, closing schools and perhaps restricting businesses, the ZIP codes are not the best template to use, Cuomo said, because school district boundaries don't always follow ZIP codes.

Still, religious gatherings and schools are the most problematic, he said, citing the country's first coronavirus hot spot in New Rochelle during the pandemic. That cluster began when a contagious man went to a wedding and a funeral. "We've seen what hundreds of people can do in a group," Cuomo said. "Look at the Rose Garden."

The ZIP codes in Rockland County include the communities of Spring Valley, Monsey and Suffern. The ZIP code in Orange County includes the town of Palm Tree.

SEE:

• Coronavirus: Children Testing Positive In Rockland, Orange
• Kiryas Joel Synagogue Warned About Mask-Less Gatherings
• Cuomo Vows Aggressive Enforcement In Coronavirus Hot Spots