NYC positive rate highest since June

New York City’s daily rate of positive coronavirus tests has moved past 3% for the first time since June. City officials are considering implementing a lockdown in a handful of areas that have recorded significant spikes in new coronavirus cases. The move comes as officials grow alarmed by clusters of new cases in Brooklyn and Queens. Several areas of the Hudson Valley have also logged significant upticks in new cases. The turmoil comes as restaurants are slated to return to 25% of indoor dining capacity and after schools began a tentative return to in-person classes this week.   

• New York City is facing a “financial abyss,” The New York Times writes. With the city’s unemployment rate at 16%, personal income tax revenue is predicted to plummet by $2 billion this fiscal year.
• The city has seen 6,000 business closures across all five boroughs since the pandemic hit — most permanent — with bankruptcy filings surging 40% across the southeast region of the state.