New York to resume indoor dining, Los Angeles bans Halloween parties

New York City restaurants struggling to stay in business after months of closures imposed in the face of the coronavirus pandemic won a long-awaited approval on Wednesday to resume limited indoor dining. But Los Angeles County health officials prohibited Halloween parties and said children should not be allowed to trick or treat during the popular fall holiday on Oct. 31. The contrasting moves on opposite coasts of the United States came as new coronavirus infections have fallen for seven weeks in a row but the nationwide death toll since the pandemic broke out in March exceeded 190,000, according to a Reuters tally. In New York City, Governor Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday said indoor dining could resume at thousands of restaurants as of Sept. 30, although capacity was limited to 25 percent.