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Governor Cuomo Announces Most Movie Theaters Outside of New York City Can Reopen on October 23

Key Highlights
January 22, 2024

Theaters Must Open at 25 Percent Capacity; No More Than 50 People in Front of Each Movie Screen

Theaters in Certain Counties Outside of New York City Do Not Meet State Requirements and Cannot Reopen

159,972 Test Results Reported to New York State Yesterday—New Record High

Statewide Positivity Rate is 1.11 Percent

Positive Testing Rate in Hot Spot Areas is 4.34 Percent; New York State Positivity Without Red Zone Focus Areas Included is 1.02 Percent

9 COVID-19 Deaths in New York State Yesterday

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that movie theaters outside of New York City can reopen at 25 percent capacity under state guidance starting October 23. 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.

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“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.”

We hit 160,000 tests in one day, which is a record number and the highest we’ve ever done.

- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo

Theaters cannot reopen in the following counties:

  • Allegany
  • Broome
  • Cattaraugus
  • Chautauqua
  • Chemung
  • Cortland
  • Greene
  • Orange
  • Rockland
  • Schuyler
  • Steuben
  • Tioga

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
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