De Blasio says NYC won’t completely reopen until September despite declining deaths and hospitalization rates
- De Blasio said on Monday night a full reopening was likely in September
- He said in the meantime, businesses would likely reopen to some extent
- New York City remains the worst hit area in the US but it has passed its peak
- There have been declining deaths and hospitalization rates for two weeks now
- But the city will remain closed until there are enough hospital beds free in case of a disease resurgence
- Another thing holding up reopening is the lack of ‘contact tracers’ hired so far
- The city needs at least 2,500 but so far none appear to have been hired
- It is one of the things holding up reopening in every other part of the state where there are fewer deaths and infection rates
- As of Tuesday morning, there were ore than 170,000 cases in NYC and at least 13,500 deaths
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
De Blasio on Monday said he anticipates a full reopening but not until September
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Monday night that he does not anticipate New York City fully reopening until September despite declining hospitalization rates and deaths.
The city is on lockdown along with the rest of the state until May 15 at least, after which point is must meet seven requirements set out by Gov. Andrew Cuomo before it can reopen.
New York City currently meets three of the four criteria; it is lacking in free hospital beds and does not yet have the number of contact tracers – people to track down everyone who has come into contact with new COVID-19 cases – that Cuomo is insisting on hiring before it can reopen.
None are thought to have been hired yet and 2,520 are needed to meet Cuomo’s requirement.
No one from the mayor’s office nor the governor’s office would provide numbers for how many had been hired so far when asked repeatedly by DailyMail.com on Monday and Tuesday.
Then, the city can start to reopen in phases, with restaurants and entertainment services among the last industries to come back to life.
In an interview on Monday night with Inside City Hall, De Blasio said that while there will be a softening of restrictions between now and September, he thinks it is a ‘safe bet’ for a ‘fuller reopening’.
‘I believe right now we’re on a good track for the thing I’m focused on the most, which is getting us up and running and as much normal as we can be by the beginning of September when school begins, I want to see school come back strong.
‘I want to see us do the work over the next few months to get to that point.
‘It’s also a natural time when people are coming back from the summer, sort of have everything get into higher gear.
‘Now, I think, in the meantime, we’ll be able to start reducing restrictions and opening up certain types of businesses in certain ways.
‘But when I think about sort of what a fuller restart looks like, more normalcy, I still think it’s going to take, you know, several months.
‘September to me is a pretty good bet.
‘So, I’m a little more hopeful that by the time you get to end this summer, beginning of the fall, there’s a chance for more normalcy,’ he said.
An abandoned Times Square on Monday night as the New York City lockdown continued
There are still thousands of new COVID-19 cases in New York City every day but the death and hospitalization rate is lowering
Walkers in Prospect Park, Brooklyn, wearing masks and practicing social distancing on Monday
New York City currently meets three of the four requirements set out by Gov Cuomo
Gov. Cuomo’s requirements have been met with mixed reactions.
Some called them ‘absurd’ and accused him of holding the state ‘hostage’.
‘The premise that we cannot reopen NYC’s economy until we have sufficient “contact tracers” in place for covid exposure is flatly absurd These arbitrary “test and trace” benchmarks increasingly look like an excuse to delay re-opening after the curve has been flattened,’ conservative radio host Buck Sexton tweeted on Monday.
Cautious business leaders refrained from criticizing the requirements on Monday night.
A spokesman for the NYC Hospitality Alliance told DailyMail.com: ‘Our government and health officials will have to determine when it’s safe to begin reopening New York City’s restaurant and nightlife industry, and we’ll be right there to help develop and inform the policies and procedures so they make as much sense as possible from an industry perspective.’
Outside New York, there is growing impatience in states with lower infection rates to get back to work.
It has led to protests and accusations that leaders are shackling the economy.