SOMETHING TO LOOK FORWARD TO
After the NYC restaurant industry freaked out that the governor declared Valentine’s Day — a Sunday — the start of indoor dining, he changed the plan to start two days earlier, on Feb. 12.

MIDDLE SCHOOLERS GO BACK TO THE CLASSROOM
And in another sign of hope, kids in grades 6 through 8 will return to the classroom starting Thursday, Feb. 25. Public school high schoolers will remain remote.

LOCAL RATES ARE STILL AMONG THE LOWEST
And on that note, I checked the city’s seven-day covid rate averages, and we are still among the lowest: 10007 is at 2.83 3.86 UPDATES AS OF TODAY. But Chinatown and the LES is over 6 percent, and some neighborhoods are in the teens with Hunts Point and Coney Island topping out at 15 percent.

9/11 PULMONARY VICTIMS CAN GET VACCINE SOON
Gov. Cuomo will add people with these underlying conditions to the vaccine eligibility list as of next Monday, Feb. 15: cancer; chronic kidney disease; pulmonary disease, including but not limited to COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease), asthma, pulmonary fibrosis, cystic fibrosis, and 9/11-related pulmonary diseases; intellectual and developmental disabilities; heart conditions, including but not limited to heart failure, coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathies, and hypertension; immunocompromised state, including but not limited to solid organ transplant, blood or bone marrow transplant, immune deficiencies, HIV, use of corticosteroids, and use of other immune-weakening medicines; obesity (BMI of 30 kg/m2 or higher); pregnancy; sickle cell disease or thalassemia; type 1 or 2 diabetes mellitus; cerebrovascular disease; neurologic conditions, including but not limited to Alzheimer’s disease or dementia; liver disease.