Lawmakers declared themselves safe
Nearly all of the state s delegation publicly declared they were safe, including Reps. Antonio Delgado, D-Rhinebeck, Dutchess County; Nicole Malliotakis, R-Staten Island; Elise Stefanik, R-Schuylerville, Saratoga County; and Joseph Morelle, D-Irondequoit, Monroe County. My staff and I are safe, Delgado posted. We are grateful for the brave Capitol Police officers who are doing everything they can to keep everyone safe. I m praying for our country.
Morelle tweeted that he was safe and sheltering in place while the Capitol is on lockdown. There is no place in our democracy for this violence, he tweeted. It must stop.
ALBANY – New York has exceeded 1 million total confirmed COVID-19 cases since the start of the pandemic, with the state surpassing the unwanted milestone Friday as the slow, steady climb in infections statewide continued.
A total of 15,074 coronavirus tests processed Friday came back positive, pushing New York s total to 1,005,785 since March, Gov. Andrew Cuomo s office reported Saturday.
The state s total includes only those cases confirmed positive by a diagnostic or rapid COVID-19 test. The actual number of coronavirus infections is likely much higher: Thousands of people have carried the virus but were never tested, either because they never showed symptoms or they were infected in the early days of the pandemic when tests were not as widely available.
New York State Team
ALBANY – A federal appeals court again struck down Gov. Andrew Cuomo s strict capacity limits on religious services in areas with high rates of COVID-19, ruling Monday that the restrictions discriminate against religious rights.
A three-judge panel from the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan ruled against Cuomo s 10- and 25-person limits on houses of worship in state-designated red and orange zones, overturning a lower court s ruling and granting a request from Catholic and Orthodox Jewish organizations to have the limits invalidated.
The ruling came a month after the U.S. Supreme Court issued a temporary injunction blocking New York from enforcing the limits, which remained in effect while the lower-level court considered the case.