Cuomo: New York's Private Businesses Should Adopt Vaccination-Only Policy
Published Date: 8/2/2021
Source: Bloomberg Quicktake: Now
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said workers in New York City's airports and public transit system will have to get coronavirus vaccinations or face weekly testing, but he stopped short Monday of mandating either masks or inoculations for the general public, saying he lacks the legal authority to do so. The Democrat urged New York's bars and restaurants to adopt a policy of only serving vaccinated people and said that more hospitals should require workers to get vaccines. He said that imposing mandates, though, would require an act of the Legislature to restore emergency powers that have expired. "The Legislature would have to come back; they'd have to pass a law to do that. So, I don't have any legal authority to mandate," Cuomo said of a mask mandate. "The best I can do is say I strongly recommend that they do that." Cuomo announced that the vaccinate-or-be-tested policies already covering thousands of municipal employees would be extended to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and for Port Authority employees working in New York facilities beginning Labor Day. The policy will cover more than 70,000 workers, most of whom are already vaccinated. Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano said they will continue to urge members to get the vaccinated and will work with the MTA to make sure testing is widely available. An average of nearly 2,300 people have been testing positive for COVID-19 daily across New York state over the past week, up from around 300 new cases per day in late June. Almost two dozen of the state's 62 counties met the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's threshold for masking up indoors. Health officials say the delta variant of the coronavirus accounts for 72% of new cases in New York City. Infection rates have been rising nationwide. The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued guidelines recommending that even vaccinated people wear masks indoors in parts of the U.S. where the delta variant is fueling infection surges. The governor and mayor have resisted reimposing mask mandates, instead stressing vaccination as the key to fighting the pandemic. Citing new information about the variant's ability to spread among vaccinated people, the CDC also recommended indoor masks for all teachers, staff, students and visitors at schools nationwide, regardless of vaccination status. Subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://bit.ly/2TwO8Gm Subscribe to our newest channel Quicktake Explained: https://bit.ly/3iERrup Bloomberg Quicktake brings you live global news and original shows spanning business, technology, politics and culture. Make sense of the stories changing your business and your world. To watch complete coverage on Bloomberg Quicktake 24/7, visit http://www.bloomberg.com/qt/live, or watch on Apple TV, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, Fire TV and Android TV on the Bloomberg app. Have a story to tell? Fill out this survey for a chance to have it featured on Bloomberg Quicktake: https://cor.us/surveys/27AF30 Connect with us on… YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Bloomberg Breaking News on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/BloombergQuickTakeNews Twitter: https://twitter.com/quicktake Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/quicktake Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/quicktake