Ian Patrick, FISM News

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Mayor Bill de Blasio said that New York City will impose fines on people who refuse to wear a face covering. Officials will first offer free masks to those caught not wearing one. If the person refuses, they will face an unspecified fine, de Blasio told reporters.

“Our goal, of course, is to give everyone a free face mask,” de Blasio said. “We don’t want to fine people, but if we have to we will.”

The new rule extends across the city a similar policy imposed earlier this month by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, controlled by New York state governor Andrew Cuomo, in which commuters who refuse to wear a mask on public transit face a $50 fine. De Blasio’s office did not respond to questions about who would enforce the new fines and how much they would be.

The city-wide daily positive test rate was 3.25%. The mayor attributed the rise in part to nine zip codes out of 146 that city health officials say have seen a worrying uptick in cases.The seven-day rolling average for positive coronavirus tests was 1.38%. The city has said it will shut schools again if the seven-day average reaches 3% or more. Plans to allow restaurants to begin seating customers indoors at 25% capacity were still underway for Wednesday.

Sourced from Reuters America Wire. Edited for brevity.