Theaters can open in New York; excluded are Tioga and Broome County

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced on Saturday that movie theaters outside of New York City can reopen at 25 percent capacity under state guidance starting Oct. 23. Excluded from reopening are theaters in the counties of Allegany, Broome, Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Chemung, Cortland, Greene, Orange, Rockland, Schuyler, Steuben, and Tioga.

 

No more than 50 people are allowed in front of each screen in each movie theater at once. Theaters can only open outside of New York City in counties that have COVID-19 positivity rates of less than 2 percent on a 14-day average and do not have any cluster zones. Theaters will be subject to rigorous state guidance and enforcement.

 

The governor also announced that 159,972 test results were reported to New York State yesterday—a new record high.

 

“We hit 160,000 tests in one day, which is a record number and the highest we’ve ever done. When you’re doing that level of tests you get down to the block level. And then, when you start to see a cluster, you oversample in that cluster, so you get even more data,” Governor Cuomo said. “Beginning October 23, movie theaters outside of New York City will be allowed to reopen at 25 percent capacity with up to 50 people maximum per screen. This is outside of New York City in areas that have infection rates below 2 percent on a 14-day average and have no cluster zones.”

 

State guidance on the reopening of theaters includes the following conditions:

 

• Masks will be required at all times except when seated and eating or drinking.
• Assigned seating will be required in all theaters.
• Social distancing between parties will be required at all times.
• Additional staffing will be required to control occupancy, traffic and seating to ensure compliance.
• Enhanced air filtration, ventilation and purification standards must be met by theaters.

 

In “Red Zone” focus areas included as part of the Governor’s Cluster Action Initiative, the positivity rate for test results reported yesterday is 4.34 percent – down from 4.84 the day before.

 

Within the “Red Zone” focus areas, 4,305 test results were reported yesterday, yielding 187 positives or a 4.34 percent positivity rate. In the remainder of the state, not counting these “Red Zone” focus areas, 155,667 test results were reported, yielding 1,597 positives or a 1.02 percent positivity rate. The state’s overall positivity rate is 1.11 percent with focus areas included. The “Red Zone” focus areas are home to 2.8 percent of the state population yet had 10.5 percent of all positive test results reported to the state yesterday, and 11.6 percent of all positive case results reported to the state this current week.

 

FOCUS ZONE	9/27-10/3 % Positive	10/4- 10/10 % Positive	Week to Date (10/11 – 10/16) % Positive	Day Prior (10/15) % Positive	Yesterday (10/16) % Positive
Brooklyn red-zone focus area % positive	6.69%	5.86%	5.36%	5.47%	4.92%
Queens % red-zone focus area % positive	2.97%	3.36%	2.47%	2.03%	2.39%
Rockland % red-zone focus area % positive	12.29%	9.77%	5.08%	11.26%	5.05%
Orange red-zone focus area % positive	24.64%	12.41%	5.99%	3.10%	6.47%
All red-zone focus area % positive	6.91%	6.13%	4.69%	4.84%	4.34%
Statewide % positive withred-zone focus areas included	1.25%	1.18%	1.17%	1.25%	1.11%
Statewide % positive without red-zone focus areas included	1.02%	1.01%	1.07%	1.14%	1.02%

 

	9/27-10/3 % Positive	10/4- 10/10 % Positive	Week to Date (10/11 – 10/16) % Positive	Day Prior (10/15) % Positive	Yesterday (10/16) % Positive
Percentage of state’s positive cases coming from red-zone focus areas	21.80%	17.60%	11.60%	11.70%	10.50%

 

Today’s data is summarized briefly below:

 

• Patient Hospitalization – 929 (+11)
• Patients Newly Admitted – 139
• Hospital Counties – 41
• Number ICU – 195 (-5)
• Number ICU with Intubation – 103 (+6)
• Total Discharges – 78,235 (+118)
• Deaths – 9
• Total Deaths – 25,637

 

Each region’s percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

 

REGION	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
Capital Region	0.8%	0.7%	0.6%
Central New York	1.0%	1.2%	0.7%
Finger Lakes	1.3%	1.5%	0.9%
Long Island	1.1%	1.1%	1.0%
Mid-Hudson	1.6%	1.8%	1.6%
Mohawk Valley	0.5%	0.3%	0.3%
New York City	1.0%	1.2%	1.2%
North Country	0.5%	0.5%	0.3%
Southern Tier	1.1%	1.6%	1.4%
Western New York	1.6%	1.4%	1.4%

 

Each New York City borough’s percentage of positive test results reported over the last three days is as follows:

 

BOROUGH	WEDNESDAY	THURSDAY	FRIDAY
Bronx	1.10%	1.60%	1.20%
Brooklyn	1.20%	1.40%	1.50%
Manhattan	0.60%	0.70%	0.70%
Queens	1.00%	1.20%	1.30%
Staten Island	1.40%	1.40%	1.40%

 

Of the 482,891 total individuals who tested positive for the virus, the geographic breakdown is as follows:

 

County	Total Positive	New Positive
Albany	3,398	15
Allegany	200	12
Broome	2,844	60
Cattaraugus	399	6
Cayuga	284	9
Chautauqua	789	18
Chemung	1,199	43
Chenango	304	10
Clinton	192	2
Columbia	641	6
Cortland	399	12
Delaware	159	2
Dutchess	5,318	13
Erie	12,393	69
Essex	190	6
Franklin	77	2
Fulton	358	1
Genesee	371	0
Greene	465	1
Hamilton	16	0
Herkimer	368	1
Jefferson	186	0
Lewis	55	0
Livingston	239	5
Madison	531	3
Monroe	6,671	43
Montgomery	254	2
Nassau	48,494	117
Niagara	1,946	8
NYC	253,740	806
Oneida	2,586	12
Onondaga	4,977	31
Ontario	559	10
Orange	13,139	41
Orleans	360	1
Oswego	582	3
Otsego	364	2
Putnam	1,731	15
Rensselaer	1,021	1
Rockland	17,125	62
Saratoga	1,202	12
Schenectady	1,491	6
Schoharie	100	0
Schuyler	86	1
Seneca	126	1
St. Lawrence	355	2
Steuben	847	30
Suffolk	47,941	126
Sullivan	1,674	6
Tioga	424	11
Tompkins	534	11
Ulster	2,402	7
Warren	437	0
Washington	326	1
Wayne	377	4
Westchester	39,398	110
Wyoming	163	3
Yates	84	3

 

Yesterday, there were 9 deaths due to COVID-19 in New York State, bringing the total to 25,637. One person who passed away in New York State yesterday was not a New Yorker. A geographic breakdown is as follows, by county of residence:

 

Deaths by County of Residence
County	New Deaths
Bronx	1
Cattaraugus	1
Kings	1
Ontario	1
Orange	1
Queens	1
Suffolk	1
Westchester	1