Judge refuses to block New York COVID-19 restrictions

A federal judge has refused to block Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s order limiting worship to 10 congregants in communities seeing spikes in coronavirus infections.

Ruling in a lawsuit brought by the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brooklyn, U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis said in an order Friday that even though the rules clearly harmed religious groups, it is not in the public interest to block the restrictions right now if they might be helping prevent a wave of new infections.

“In fact, if the court issues an injunction and the state is correct about the acuteness of the threat currently posed by hotspot neighborhoods, the result could be avoidable death on a massive scale like New Yorkers experienced in the spring," Garaufis wrote.

The ruling doesn't end the lawsuit, but denies the church's request for a temporary injunction.

The judge said if the diocese ends up ultimately winning, the worst that would happen to the diocese's churches is that 26 of them "will have experienced extra weeks with severely curtailed in-person ceremonies.”

“That is not meant, in any way, to downplay the seriousness of that constitutional harm,” the judge said. But he said the restrictions' potential to save lives outweighed that temporary damage.

The diocese argued that the state's decision last week to limit attendance at houses of worship in six areas where COVID-19 infections have spiked was arbitrary and unfair. The governor's order also shut down nonessential businesses and schools in the hot spots.

Church officials said they implemented social-distancing measures for religious services that had largely protected congregations, including placing communion wafers in congregants’ hands rather than on their tongues.

Despite that, the governor “continues to run roughshod...