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Coronavirus Updates: Weekend mass resumes for Brooklyn Diocese

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Sunday, July 5, 2020

Masses resume at Catholic Churches in Brooklyn Diocese

Shaking or holding hands won't be allowed.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The Diocese of Brooklyn is preparing parishioners for the return of Mass this weekend.

Shaking or holding hands won't be allowed.

In New Jersey, Hoboken officials announced Saturday a two-day spike in cases, the highest since mid-May.

Meanwhile, beaches are open for swimming in New York City, but one of the changes made for the holiday weekend are for beachgoers to wear a face mask when not in the water.

NEW YORK CITY

Fourth of July festivities will look a bit different this year as New York City beaches enforce stricter efforts to maintain social distancing.

Also, the Diocese of Brooklyn resumes Mass this weekend.

Leaders removed the hymnals from the pews, but they encouraged worshippers to use their phones to reference prayers and lyrics.

The diocese will continue to offer live broadcasts for people who feel sick or worry about attending church.

Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city is developing multiple plans and contingencies for a safe return to school in the fall.

The mayor says 75% of parents surveyed want to send their kids back to school in September, and precautions being taken include daily deep cleaning of schools, face covering and social distancing requirements, and hand washing stations.

Alternate Side Parking will be suspended next week, through July 12, and the Staten Island Ferry will go back to pre-COVID rush hour service Monday, offering rides every 15 minutes between 7 a.m.-9 a.m. and 5 p.m. - 7 p.m. Additionally, 20-minute service will be offered between 6 a.m. - 7 a.m. and 3:50 p.m. - 4:50 p.m.

The High Line will reopen to the public with limited capacity on July 16 after temporarily closing in March to help limit the spread of COVID-19. The High Line, working with NYC Parks, also issued visitation protocols to ensure that visitors can maintain social distancing in full accordance with city guidelines.

NEW YORK STATE

New COVID-19 cases in New York dropped by nearly 200 one day after the state eclipsed 900 new cases for the first time in three weeks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Saturday.

Cuomo confirmed 726 COVID-19 tests came back positive on Friday.

Those 726 positive tests represent just 1.16% of the 62,403 test results reported to the state.

Total hospitalizations were under 900 for a sixth day, falling to 844.

Cuomo also announced 11 new deaths related to COVID-19.

On Friday, Cuomo announced that 918 tests came back positive on Thursday, representing the first time more than 900 new infections have been reported in the state since June 12.

NEW JERSEY

The state co

New Jersey's deaths and cases were slightly up Friday.

Gov. Phil Murphy announced Saturday 25 new fatalities and 303 new cases.

The state now has 173,033 total cases and 13,333 lives lost.

Hoboken confirmed 13 coronavirus cases a two-day spike in cases, the highest since mid-May.

Those patients had traveled out of state and were under the age of 45, between 20 and 35

Murphy signed an Executive Order raising the limit on crowd size for outdoor gatherings to 500 people, effective Friday. Limits on all indoor gatherings, which are 25% of capacity, but with a maximum of 100 people, remain unchanged.

He said indoor pools may reopen at 25% capacity with social distancing in place.

New Jersey reported 539 new positive cases of COVID-19, bringing the state total to 172,356. An additional 27 deaths brings the state toll to 13,251.

CONNECTICUT

A federal lawsuit has been filed to make mail-in voting for the November election available to all eligible voters in Connecticut. An executive order signed by Governor Ned Lamont allows voters to use absentee ballots in the August 11th primary. But that order expires before November 3rd.

Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday that the state reported more than 11,000 COVID-19 tests on Wednesday and just 0.6% were positive. Connecticut administered more than 80,000 tests over the last week and the percent of positive cases was under 1% each day.

Lamont said airline bookings into the state are down significantly since New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut issued a travel advisory for incoming travelers from 16 states that have a high positive test rate to undertake a 14-day quarantine.

PENN STATE UNIVERSITY DIES OF COVID-19 COMPLICATIONS

A 21-year-old Penn State University student has died due to coronavirus complications.

The university said Thursday Juan Garcia's passing is the first known Penn State student death related to the coronavirus.

COVID-19 CLUSTER LINKED TO NY HOUSE PARTY

Rockland County officials announced a coronavirus cluster Wednesday linked to a house party in West Nyack. Officials say there have been at least eight confirmed cases, with one test pending, in West Nyack and New City.

The patients are mainly among young adults in their 20s, who were connected to the party on June 17. Officials say the party host was already symptomatic, and since the initial party, there were at least two other parties with some common attendees.

COVID-19 IN NEW YORK CITY STARTED AS EARLY AS FEB: STUDY

A new study has shown evidence the coronavirus was circulating in New York City in the beginning of February. The research conducted by Mount Sinai found New Yorkers had antibodies to the virus as early as February 23.

A new study has shown evidence the coronavirus was circulating in New York City in the beginning of February.

That would mean they would have been infected with the virus about two weeks earlier. The first confirmed case was on March 1.

The new study has yet to undergo formal review, but experts say the work is credible and backs up what many believed.

FAUCI'S WARNING

The U.S. is "going in the wrong direction" with the coronavirus surging badly enough that Dr. Anthony Fauci told senators Tuesday some regions are putting the entire country at risk - just as schools and colleges are wrestling with how to safely reopen.

With about 40,000 new cases being reported a day, Fauci, the government's top infectious disease expert, said he "would not be surprised if we go up to 100,000 a day if this does not turn around."

WATCH EYEWITNESS TO A PANDEMIC (Episode 4)

It overwhelmed the health care industry, it put millions out of work, it drowned social services in an ocean of need and threatened the food supply Americans had long since taken for granted. At the apex of the crisis and for the weeks that followed, no part of life, or even what followed life, was spared.