Cuomo Warns Of New Lockdown As Spikes Continue

NBC New York reports:

Alarmed by soaring infection rates in nearly a dozen New York ZIP codes, Gov. Andrew Cuomo felt compelled to hold a second conference call in two hours Monday to discuss the clusters and warned drastic measures may come next.

Of 1,769 ZIP codes in the state, Cuomo said 10 are averaging an infection rate of about 15 percent compared with the overall statewide infection rate of 1.5 percent as of Monday. Those 10 ZIP codes account for 25 percent of the state’s new daily cases despite representing just 2.9 percent of the state’s population.

New York City officials have been talking about their problematic ZIP codes for more than a week now. Cases continue to grow at a disturbing rate in at least eight of them, outpacing the citywide average by 3.7 times over 14 days, despite health officials’ warning that the spikes may warrant new shutdowns for the first time in months.

#BREAKING UPDATE: Cuomo, alarmed by NY clusters, holds 2nd telebriefing in 2 hours as positivity rates soar beyond average; gov warns more drastic measures may be needed without improvement https://t.co/KaZx2wDNn9

— NBC New York (@NBCNewYork) September 28, 2020