As New York deals with a virus outbreak, Mayor de Blasio says, “No more shutdowns”

Key takeaways:

• New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has stated that he is committed to keeping the city open while dealing with a large increase in coronavirus cases.
• According to De Blasio, the city is increasing testing, but vaccinations remain the most effective combating the pandemic.

Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City, said he is committed to keeping the city open as it deals with a large increase in coronavirus cases.

The Democrat stated on Tuesday that schools and businesses in New York would not be forced to close as they were when COVID-19 first arrived in the city in 2020.

As the omicron variant spreads throughout the city, De Blasio has been questioned whether he will reinstate closures.

“I am adamant that there will be no more shutdowns. We’ve been through a lot of them “At a virtual news conference on Tuesday, de Blasio said. “They had a huge impact. We won’t be able to do it again.”

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In the final days of his term as mayor, De Blasio will decide whether the annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square will go on as planned by Christmas. Last year’s event was small and socially distant, but de Blasio had hoped to hold it at “full strength” this year. That was before the number of COVID-19 cases began to rise again.

While the fate of the outdoor New Year’s Eve celebration remained uncertain, Eric Adams, De Blasio’s successor, postponed his inauguration ceremony, which was set for January 1 at Brooklyn’s Kings Theatre.

In a statement released Tuesday, the mayor-elect said the ceremony would be rescheduled for a later date “to prioritize” the health of attendees, staff, and reporters.

“It’s clear that our city is up against a formidable foe in the omicron variant of COVID-19 and that the increase in cases poses a serious public health threat,” Adams said.

Two other Democratic officials, city Comptroller-elect Brad Lander and Public Advocate Jumaane Williams were also scheduled to attend the ceremony and co-signed Adams’ statement announcing its cancellation. After recently testing positive for COVID-19, Williams has been quarantined at home.

On January 1, Adams will continue to serve as mayor. Evan Thies, the mayor-spokesperson, said it would take a lot for him to shut down New York City again.

“He believes that by aggressively addressing the Omicron threat with more vaccinations, boosters, and testing, we can balance the priorities of public health and keeping New York open safely and responsibly,” Thies said.

Late Tuesday, the city’s jails were placed under temporary restrictions, with the Department of Correction announcing that in-person visits and programs such as religious services had been suspended.

According to De Blasio, the city is increasing testing, but vaccinations remain the most effective combating the pandemic. Starting Tuesday and continuing through the end of the year, De Blasio announced the city would offer a $100 cash incentive to New Yorkers who get a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The city had previously offered similar incentives to encourage people to get their first vaccine doses.

According to De Blasio, the federal government will assist in establishing more testing sites in New York City, and the city will expand its city-run testing sites, which include brick-and-mortar locations and mobile testing vans.

The city had been averaging fewer than 3,600 new COVID-19 cases per day as recently as December 13. However, after nearly 63,500 people tested positive in just five days, the average daily number of infections had risen to nearly 11,000 by Monday, a 207 percent increase in just one week.

Source: CTV News

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