In response to the easing of the coronavirus pandemic in the area and raising vaccination rates, New York will begin lifting several capacity restrictions on businesses on Wednesday. It’s a significant return to normalcy, according to state leaders. The majority of companies, including restaurants, bars, salons, and gyms, will be able to reopen at full capacity, but only if they can maintain a six-foot separation between individuals or groups. The same can be said for places of worship.
In most cases, vaccinated individuals will no longer be required to wear masks indoors or outside, but individual companies will be able to impose stringent mask requirements. (Masks will remain required on public transportation and in schools from prekindergarten to grade 12, as well as in homeless shelters, correctional facilities, nursing homes, and other health-care facilities).After announcing the end of the mask requirement on Monday, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said, “This is an exciting moment; this has been a dark, dark hellish year.” “However, that was yesterday, and tomorrow will be different.”
What will be the immediate changes?
The reopening on May 19 does not reflect a full return to normalcy. The requirement to maintain six feet of space between tables in many cramped New York City restaurants may result in fewer customers than the 75 percent capacity that had previously been allowed. The indoor social gathering limit in New York will be 250 people, and the outdoor limit will be 500.What’s new is that these capacity laws aren’t as rigid as they once were.
Mr. Cuomo mentioned that restaurants would be permitted to put tables closer together to achieve 100% capacity if five-foot-tall solid partitions are installed between them. Additionally, if theatres and other large facilities, such as ballparks, need spectators to provide evidence of vaccination, they are allowed to return to full capacity rather than one-third capacity.
In a wide, open dining room, some restaurants, such as Carmine’s on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, are even using partitions. However, some restaurants believe that using partitions detracts from the dining experience, and Plexiglas can be costly. Because of the logistical challenges in checking vaccine status, several small businesses would not need evidence of vaccination for the time being.
“We’re somewhere about 50% indoors,” said Annie Shi, one of the owners of King, a small West Village restaurant that plans to stay that way for the time being. “Until the government takes action to address social alienation, 75 percent or 100 percent doesn’t mean much.”
What about the safety?
Vaccinated people will do a lot more with a lot less danger than those who aren’t. However, vaccines do not provide 100 percent protection, and only about half of the population in the country has received all of their vaccinations. As a result, some epidemiologists continue to advise adhering to the coronavirus protection golden laws. Many experts still recommend wearing a mask indoors while not eating or drinking, despite the new guidelines. Where at all possible, people should maintain a social distance. They should also try to prefer the outside as compared to indoors.
