New York reopens further by lifting capacity restrictions, adopting new mask guidance

People talk with each other at Times Square in New York, the United States, May 14, 2021.(Xinhua/Wang Ying)

Fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to use a face covering in most public places. Businesses are only required to maintain six feet of social distancing starting from Wednesday with capacity limit removed. Meanwhile, indoor social gathering limit increases to 250 in New York state.

NEW YORK, May 19 (Xinhua) -- New York State entered a new period of reopening on Wednesday with multiple capacity restrictions lifted and new guidance on masks and social distancing taking effect.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said that "New York is coming back" and fully vaccinated individuals no longer need to use a face covering in most public places starting from Wednesday.

Businesses are only required to maintain six feet of social distancing starting from Wednesday with capacity limit removed. Meanwhile, indoor social gathering limit increases to 250 in the state.

As for outdoor residential gathering, the limit is removed and the limit for indoor residential gathering rises to 50 on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the capacity for large-scale indoor venues and large-scale outdoor venues increased to 30 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

New York State also starts to adopt the new mask guidelines by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday with some exceptions.

People play chess in Bryant Park in New York, the United States, May 14, 2021. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)

In addition, Cuomo unveiled an updated guidance for health and safety measures at child care, day camp, and overnight camp programs, effective on Wednesday.

However, Cuomo warned that the latest developments don't mean that COVID-19 has been officially relegated to the history books and people need to stay vigilant, follow safety guidelines and help every eligible New Yorker get vaccinated.

Statistics issued on Wednesday showed that the daily positivity rate of COVID-19 test fell to 1 percent in the state and more than 10 million New Yorkers, or over 50 percent of total population in the state, have gotten at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine.