Andrew Cuomo urges NYC to step up mask wearing, social distancing

New York: New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo has urged officials in New York City to step up with the enforcement of wearing masks and social distancing due to the Covid-19 pandemic, or else face fines of upto $10,000.

In a conference call on Friday, Cuomo said that he was going to enforce Section 16 of the health law, which will allow him to fine the city with $10,000 for violations, reports CBS New York.

“If the local governments don’t step up the compliance, they will actually be in violation of the law and they can be fined,” he was quoted as saying.

It however remained unclear if the city was going to enforce the measures.

“The numbers are continuing to go up in many of the zip codes. That means, by definition, compliance is not where it needs to be,” CBS New York quoted the Governor as further saying.

On Thursday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that 16 violations were given out, but did not mention for what.

On Thursday, officers with masks and PPE in hand stood outside a corner market in Williamsburg, insisting the men, women and children passing by put on masks.

Once the epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic in the US, New York state has reported more than 466,000 Covid-19 cases, of which New York City accounted for over 250,000/

The death toll in the state stood at 32,789.

As of Saturday, the US continued as the worst-hit country with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 7,331,241 and 208,693, respectively, according to the Johns Hopkins University.