Coronavirus

New York City, California Halt Indoor Dining As COVID-19 Cases Rise

New York City was expected to reopen indoor dining rooms next week, but Mayor Bill de Blasio is hitting the brakes.

New York City, California Halt Indoor Dining As COVID-19 Cases Rise
Marcio Jose Sanche / AP
SMS

New York City and California will not allow indoor dining at restaurants due to recent spikes of COVID-19 cases.

On Wednesday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered indoor dining at restaurants to close in 19 counties for the next three weeks amid recent surges of new daily cases in the state.

"Bottom line is the spread of this virus continues at a rate that is particularly concerning," Newsom said. "We're seeing parts of the state where we are seeing an increase in not only the total number of positive cases, but a significant increase in the total number of people that are getting tested that are testing positive."

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio also announced Wednesday that the city would delay indoor dining ahead of its expected resumption next week due to the rise of COVID-19 cases across the U.S.

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

The number of daily cases in the U.S. hit a new high of more than 50,000 new infections on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins University.