New York governor vows 'aggressive enforcement' amid weak observance of COVID-19 norms

Heavy-handed enforcement would be carried out in New York from Monday onwards, said State Governor Andrew Cuomo on Sunday amid low observance of Covid-19 norms in the city.

"Local governments have not done an effective job of enforcement in these hotspot ZIP codes. NYS will be doing aggressive enforcement starting tomorrow. As we saw with bars and restaurants, when the state initiated enforcement actions compliance greatly increased," Cuomo tweeted.

According to Johns Hopkins University, the US' COVID-19 death toll is nearing 210,000 as of Sunday afternoon, and New York remains one of the worst-hit states.

Amid a rising number of cases in the state, Cuomo expressed concern about the lack of testing in the schools.

"I am concerned about the lack of testing in schools. If the localities do not do testing immediately in the schools in those areas, the State will close them immediately," he said.

"We all want schools to reopen IF they can reopen safely. I have assured the parents of this state that I would not send my child to a school that I didn't know was safe. Without testing we can't assure parents and teachers of the safety of that school," Governor Cuomo said in a subsequent tweet.

He also informed that 1,222 new COVID-19 cases were on Saturday.

"Today's update on the numbers: Of the 110,329 tests reported yesterday, 1,222 were positive (1.11% of total). Total hospitalizations fell to 618. Sadly, there were 14 COVID fatalities yesterday," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )