New York and California get stabilized to their normal people circulation

 

Tuesday brought reopenings in two of the largest states, with New York reaching an important vaccine milestone and joining California in dropping most of its Covid-19 restrictions.

At least 70% of New Yorkers have received at least one dose of a Covid-19 vaccine dose, prompting the lifting of pandemic mitigation measures.

On the other side of the country, California, the first state to shut down last year, ended limits on capacity at most venues and stopped requiring physical distancing and masks for people who have been vaccinated.

"I'm very happy about it. I think as long as we're safe, it's great," San Francisco resident Jim Bloedau told CNN. "Go out and get vaccinated. It's safe and everybody should take care of themselves and take care of each other."

The reopenings are occurring in the two states that have seen the most deaths from Covid-19 -- California with more than 63,000 and New York with 53,500. Tuesday, the US death toll from the pandemic passed 600.000.

Cuomo has noted, his state had a Covid-19 positivity rate of 48.16% -- once the highest positivity rate in the world. The governor said the positivity rate is now 0.40% -- the lowest rate in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University.

"We were alone, and it was frightening. It was like living through a science fiction movie ... people abandoned New York, but others stayed and others fought," Cuomo said. "Where are we today? We have the lowest positivity rate in the United States of America. ... We went literally from worst to first."