New York Mayor Bill De Blasio Delays Indoor Dining Reopening As City Continues Coronavirus Safety Measures

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday said indoor dining would not resume as originally planned amid the recent nationwide surge in coronavirus cases. De Blasio spoke about his decision during his daily press briefing.

“The bad news is regarding a situation we’ve seen now all over the country. We cannot go ahead at this point in time with indoor dining in New York City,” de Blasio said. “Even a week ago honestly I was hopeful that we could. But the news we’ve gotten around the country gets worse and worse all the time.”

De Blasio cited the examples of Texas and Florida — two states that have seen a surge in coronavirus cases — to highlight the problems of indoor dining exposure.

As of Wednesday, New York has 398,000 confirmed cases and 31,776 deaths from coronavirus. New York City accounts for 220,000 confirmed cases and 22,566 cases.

“We see a lot of problems and we particularly see problems revolving around people going back to bars and restaurants indoors,” de Blasio said. “Indoors is the problem more and more, the science is showing it more and more.”

De Blasio's comments preceded Gov. Andrew Cuomo's statement Wednesday that indoor dining would be delayed "until the facts change and it is prudent to open."

New York City was expected to enter Phase 3 of the state’s reopening plan on July 6, which would allow indoor dining to resume at 50% occupancy and gatherings of up to 25 people would be allowed. The rest of the state was already at Phase 3 or had begun Phase 4, the latter of which allows gatherings of up to 50 people and “low-risk” arts, entertainment, and recreation businesses to reopen.

However, these “low-risk” businesses do not include movie theaters, malls, or gyms.

Salons were also slated to reopen in New York City on July 6, but de Blasio has not commented on whether or not they will remain closed for the time being.