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Andrew Cuomo won’t be having Thanksgiving with his mom after all.
The New York governor announced on Monday that he would spend Thanksgiving with his 89-year-old mother and two daughters in Albany, New York, although he urged his constituents to refrain from gathering for the US holiday in the middle an increase in coronavirus cases.
But later that day, his office released a statement saying “plans have changed” following a backlash.
“Given the current circumstances with Covid, [Cuomo] will have to work over Thanksgiving, ”senior advisor Rich Azzopardi told The Wall Street Journal’s Jimmy Vielkind.
Cuomo has asked New Yorkers in recent days to refrain from traveling or reuniting with older relatives for Thanksgiving. “Next Thanksgiving, you’ll ask yourself: Have I done everything to keep my community safe? he said, just Sunday.
Azzopardi said Monday that Cuomo’s mother had yet to be notified that their Thanksgiving had been canceled, although they had a difficult discussion about Thanksgiving plans last week.
Cuomo said on Monday he was reopening a Covid-19 emergency field hospital on Staten Island, the first such facility in the state to restart since the state partially tamed the pandemic during the summer.
New York State has averaged nearly 5,500 new cases per day over the past seven days. Hospitalizations in the state have increased 122% in the past three weeks, Cuomo said.
The temporary hospital welcomed 200 patients in the spring, when New York Hospital departments were overwhelmed with critically ill and dying patients. Now, Cuomo said, officials feared it might be necessary again as the virus has spread across the borough at a faster rate than the rest of the city.
Cases of Covid-19 are on the rise in the United States, and Cuomo was one of several governors to ask residents to stay home for the holidays. About 83,000 people across the United States are hospitalized with Covid-19, according to the Covid Tracking Project. The infections have led to a shortage of hospital beds and health workers, and they threaten surgeries and other care unrelated to Covid.
Los Angeles closed its restaurants on Monday and plans to adopt a new stay-at-home order. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts has warned he could impose tighter social distancing restrictions before Thanksgiving if hospitalizations continue to rise. Nevada has tightened restrictions on casinos, restaurants and private gatherings.
“We are on a rapid trajectory that threatens to overwhelm our health system, our frontline health workers and your access to care. So now is the time to act, ”said Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak, who recently contracted Covid-19.
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