New York canceled part of quarantine restrictions: what and how it works now

Starting May 19, New York will lift many capacity restrictions for businesses in response to the region's weakening COVID-19 pandemic and rising vaccination rates. Writes about it New York Times.

Officials have announced this moment as an important step towards a return to normalcy.

Most businesses - restaurants, shops, salons and gyms - will be able to return to 100 percent capacity, but only if they can still maintain a six-foot (1,8 m) distance between people or groups. It's the same with churches.

Vaccinated people will no longer be required to wear masks indoors or outdoors in most cases, but individual businesses may have stricter mask rules. Masks will continue to be required on public transport and in schools, homeless shelters, correctional facilities, nursing homes and healthcare facilities.

“This is an exciting moment. It was a hell of a year, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said after announcing the end of mandatory mask wearing. "But that was yesterday, and now we are looking at a different tomorrow."

The opening on May 19 is not yet a complete return to normal life. In many cramped New York City restaurants, the requirement to maintain six feet (1,8 m) between tables could mean fewer diners than the already allowed 75% capacity. In New York, the indoor public gathering limit will be set at 250 and the outdoor limit at 500.

On the subject: Return to normal life: where in New York everything is already the way it was before the quarantine

What's new, however, is that these rules are no longer strict.

Restaurants will be allowed to place tables closer together to achieve 100 percent seating capacity if five-foot (1,5 m) solid dividers are installed between them, Cuomo said. And theaters and other large venues, including stadiums, are allowed to return to full capacity instead of one-third if they require visitors to show proof of vaccination.

Some restaurants, such as Carmine's on Manhattan's Upper West Side, are already using partitions in the large outdoor dining room. But other restaurants believe that the use of partitions compromises the quality of the dinner, and the plexiglass can be expensive.

“We're taking on about 50% of the capacity,” said Annie Shea, one of the owners of King, a small West Village restaurant that plans to stay at that level for now. "Until the government says something about social distancing, 75 or 100 percent don't matter."

Private houses can now accommodate 50 people, up from 10.

And the biggest change was the elimination of the mandatory wearing of masks for vaccinated residents of the state. While restaurants and other businesses can set their own rules, waiters, chefs, and customers could theoretically not wear masks if they are vaccinated.

The New York State Department of Health continues to "strongly recommend the use of masks in areas where the vaccination status of people is unknown," according to the new guidance. Major retailers including Costco, Target, CVS and Trader Joe's have already said they will waive mask requirements for vaccinated visitors in accordance with local regulations.