New Yellow Zone Announced In Washington Heights As COVID Surges

WASHINGTON HEIGHTS, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said Washington Heights will become a yellow zone, meaning new restrictions are coming for certain businesses amid rising cases in hospitalizations.

Under the state's guidance for yellow zones, non-residential gatherings are restricted to 25 people indoors and outdoors, and residential gatherings are capped at 10 indoors and outdoors. Houses of worship are limited to half capacity, and restaurants must limit tables to no more than four patrons.

The yellow zone stretches from 133rd to 187th Streets between Hudson River and East River to the north, before narrowing along St. Nicholas Avenue further south. The area includes parts of Harlem and most of Washington Heights.

However, it does not include any parts of Inwood.

"New York City, upper Manhattan is going to become a yellow zone, basically the Washington Heights area is 3.3," Cuomo told reporters Monday. "These are dangerous times that we are in."

According to the state's metrics, an area becomes a yellow zone when its coronavirus positivity rate stays above 2.5 percent for 10 days, and when an average of 10 or more cases are confirmed per 100,000 residents, based on the 7-day rolling average.

Here are the COVID rates for the week of Nov. 13 to 19 for the four ZIP codes that make up Washington Heights. It is the most recent available data from the city.

• 10034 — Inwood/Washington Heights: 1,228 people tested, 38 new cases, 3.09 percent positivity.
• 10040 — Washington Heights (North): 1,277 people tested, 52 new cases, 4.07 percent positivity.
• 10033 — Washington Heights (North/South): 1,764 people tested, 76 new cases, 4.31 percent rate.
• 10032 — Washington Heights (South): 2,105 people tested, 65 new cases, 3.09 percent rate.

Washington Heights is now in the Yellow zone. We must adhere to social distancing, increase testing, quarantine if sick & wear your mask. I know this holiday will be tough but we need to prioritize the restrictions put in place to keep us safe! More details to come... https://t.co/cT224cOBmf
— Carmen De La Rosa (@CnDelarosa) November 23, 2020

City Council Member Mark Levine said the yellow zone designation should serve as a "stark warning" for people in Upper Manhattan.

"This should serve as a stark warning to people uptown that cases are rising steadily," Levine told Patch. "While a yellow zone does not bring with it major restrictions, it should warn people that major restrictions will happen soon unless we flatten this curve."

He also mentioned that the yellow zone would likely take effect Tuesday.

Parts of Washington Heights have now surpassed the 3% COVID-19 positivity rate.

There are new restrictions in place for gatherings, dining, & houses of worship; make sure you maintain appropriate social distancing measures & continue to wear your masks!#MaskUpManhattan pic.twitter.com/NM2vBN7Tqs
— Gale A. Brewer (@galeabrewer) November 23, 2020

Yellow zones, which do not affect schools or force businesses to close, are the least restrictive of the state's neighborhood-level micro-cluster strategy. Under the strictest zone, red, all nonessential gatherings are banned, schools and nonessential businesses must close, dining must switch to takeout and delivery only.

This is a developing story, please check back in for details.

Patch reporter Dan Hampton and Nick Garber contributed to this report.