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

FILE PHOTO: Ambulances line up outside Maimonides Medical Center, as the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues, in the Borough Park area of Brooklyn, New York, U.S., September 25, 2020. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

NEW YORK (Reuters) - 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.