New York Mayor Bill De Blasio on Monday urged residents and businesses to prepare for a possible second shutdown amid a rise coronavirus cases.
“What is becoming increasingly clear is that all forms of restrictions must be on the table at this time,” De Blasio said at a news conference from Manhattan City Hall. “At the current pace we’re going, you’ll have to be ready now for a full closure – a break like the one we had at the end of spring.”
Over the past seven days, nearly 20,000 New Yorkers have tested positive for the virus. The positivity rate of December 12, the most recent day on which the city has data, was 5.5%. After falling to less than 3% over the summer, the rate has not dropped by 5% since Nov. 29. More than 24,500 people in the city have died from causes related to COVID 19, according to health data.
Another blockade is “increasingly necessary only to break the back of our second wave, to prevent the second wave from growing, to prevent lives from being taken, to prevent it from threatening our hospitals,” De Blasio added that commented on the government Andrew Cuomo’s December 12 statements to the New York Times raised the possibility of the city entering another closure “within a month.”
The decision to impose stricter restrictions in New York rests with Cuomo. But De Blasio urged companies and workers to prepare to start working remotely if they currently report to physical jobs.
Possible restrictions could last “a matter of weeks,” De Blasio said. “We have to be mentally and practically preparing for that possibility.”
De Blasio’s announcement came the same the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was administered in New York.
“I think this is the weapon that will end the war. This is the beginning of the last chapter of the book,” Cuomo said of the milestone Monday at a news conference.
“It will be months before the vaccine reaches critical mass. This is the light at the end of the tunnel, but it is a long tunnel,” Cuomo added.
The city’s restaurants were forced to close indoor dining room again on Monday to an extent that could lead to more permanent closures for thousands of establishments with troubled food and drink. The winter weather also threatens the viability of its outdoor facilities.
“It’s absolutely devastating. This exacerbates the crisis,” said Andrew Rigie, executive director of the New York City Hospitality Alliance, an association that represents the city’s restaurants and nightlife venues. “Now, with the cold and snow underway, restaurants won’t have the benefits of eating outdoors, even to help them.”