New York battles COVID-19 hot spots as Washington wrangles over relief

New York City restaurants welcomed patrons back inside for the first time in months on Wednesday as authorities scrambled to contain COVID-19 outbreaks in some neighborhoods and negotiators in Washington wrangled over a coronavirus relief package. Coronavirus infection rates continued to climb in many of the nine ZIP codes in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn where new clusters have emerged, Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday. The city is deploying 400 police officers as well as other officials to improve compliance with social-distancing rules and a face-covering mandate in the affected neighborhoods.