New York is scrambling to suppress new clusters of the coronavirus across the state and in several New York City neighborhoods.
“A cluster today can be community spread tomorrow,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
Twenty New York ZIP codes have seen positive test rates of about 5%. Certain neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn, especially those that are predominantly Orthodox Jewish, have reported the sharpest increase in new cases due in part to low compliance with social distancing laws. Cuomo said Tuesday that he would meet with Orthodox Jewish leaders and local officials “to make sure we’re all on the same page.”
“A cluster problem is caused by lack of compliance,” Cuomo said. “Why was there lack of compliance? Because the local government failed to do its compliance job. If you do not now control and attack the cluster, you have community spread.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio warned of penalties to be imposed on people who violate social distancing and mask mandates in an effort to quell outbreaks across nine ZIP codes in Brooklyn and Queens. He said that members of the “Trace Corps” and hundreds of additional city workers will be sent into the hot-spot neighborhoods to conduct virus testing. They will also be offering free masks and offer a warning to people not wearing one. If someone refuses to wear a mask after being warned, workers will have the power to impose a fine.
De Blasio announced earlier Tuesday that the daily test-positive rate had reached 3.25%, the highest the rate has been since June. De Blasio cautioned that further flouting of the law could prompt another round of business and school closures in certain areas and limits on gathering sizes.
To date, nearly 7.2 million COVID-19 infections and more than 205,000 deaths have been confirmed in the United States.
The pandemic and Obamacare are the two healthcare issues that will dominate the first presidential debate Tuesday night. While former Vice President and Democratic nominee Joe Biden looks to have the advantage on those issues, President Trump will have his opportunities to counterpunch.
“I think this is a topic that, in theory, should be favorable to Joe Biden, given that we just passed 200,000 deaths” from COVID-19, said Aaron Kall, the director of debate and a dean at the University of Michigan. “The numbers aren’t as good, so there is a lot of meat for Biden to attack in terms of how Trump has handled the pandemic.”
White House officials and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi revived talks Monday over another coronavirus relief package as Democrats offered a $2.2 trillion relief package. Pelosi met with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin Tuesday morning, according to Pelosi spokesman Drew Hammill. They agreed to meet again on Wednesday.
House Democrats unveiled a coronavirus relief bill Monday that is at least $800 billion less costly than the bill they introduced in the spring, which would have cost more than $3 trillion. The proposal still comes to about $1 trillion more than what Mnuchin and other White House officials wanted. Both parties came to an impasse nearly two months ago. Now, with just over a month out from Election Day, the pressure is on Congress to pass another round of economic relief.
Consumer confidence increased in September as states eased coronavirus restrictions. The Conference Board’s consumer confidence index now stands at 101.8, up from August’s 86.3 and July’s 92.6.
“Consumer Confidence increased sharply in September … [which signifies] a more favorable view of current business and labor market conditions, coupled with renewed optimism about the short-term outlook,” said Lynn Franco, senior director of economic indicators at the Conference Board.
Disney theme parks will lay off about 28,000 employees due to huge losses since the pandemic forced the parks to close, CNBC reported.
“For the last several months, our management team has worked tirelessly to avoid having to separate anyone from the company … However, we simply cannot responsibly stay fully staffed while operating at such limited capacity,” Josh D’Amaro, head of parks at Disney, told employees.
The Tennessee Titans and the Minnesota Vikings called off in-person training Tuesday after three players and two staff members of the Titans tested positive for the coronavirus following their game Sunday. The Vikings reported no positive coronavirus tests on Tuesday morning and will reassess opening practice as more tests are conducted throughout the week.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee announced that while his state will extend its emergency declaration, all statewide coronavirus restrictions on businesses will be repealed. He said that in addition to removing restrictions on businesses, restrictions on gatherings would also be rolled back.
