New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has been a lightning rod of controversy during the COVID-19 pandemic, with a great many New Yorkers sharing their frustrations with his handling of the crisis over the course of the last few months.

That isn’t likely to change heading into the Christmas holiday, as Cuomo announced some major changes to life in the Empire State late this week.

“The hospitalizations continue to increase in New York City,” Cuomo said. “We said that we would watch it. If the hospitalizations didn’t stabilize, we would close indoor dining. It has not. We’re going to close indoor dining on Monday.”

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According to data released by the city Friday, the daily number of hospital admissions for COVID-19 hit 205, climbing above the threshold of 200. The number of new cases on a seven-day rolling average is 2,559. The seven-day average is at 5.35%, which is also above the city’s threshold of 5%.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, who has suffered his fair share of criticism, has also chimed in.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said he backs the governor’s decision.

“This is painful. So many restaurants are struggling,” he tweeted. “But we can’t allow this virus to reassert itself in our city.”

New York City was the epicenter of the coronavirus crisis both in the US and the world at large for some time, due in no small part to its population density and its position as one of the east coasts most significant travel hubs.

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