September Is 'Natural Point' For NYC To Start Full Reopen: Mayor

September Is 'Natural Point' For NYC To Start Full Reopen: Mayor

"That's a real natural point to start reopening," said de Blasio. "Because that's when everyone would normally come back from the summer."

 

NEW YORK CITY — As New York City's coronavirus trackers showed stagnating progress and the number of children diagnosed with a toxic shock-like syndrome linked to the virus increased, Mayor Bill de Blasio told New York City a full reopening may not occur until autumn.

"September is crucial," de Blasio said. "That's a real natural point to start reopening more if all goes well because that's when everyone would normally come back from the summer."

New York City needs to show two weeks of steady decrease in its three COVID-19 tracking indicators — hospitalizations, intensive care unit patients and percentage of those testing positive — as well as meet seven benchmarks set by Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

People admitted to hospitals for suspected COVID-19 decreased to 48 from 77 as of May 15, but ICU patients increased to 475 from 469 and the percentage of those testing positive stayed level at 11 percent, data show.

New York City reported 20,720 COVID-19 deaths — 15,888 confirmed and 4,832 probably — 50,120 hospitalized and 190,408 cases as of Sunday afternoon, Health Department data show.

As of Monday, New York has met just three of the seven (which measure hospitalizations, death rates, available beds, testing and tracing), but the mayor said he projects the city will meet the remaining four by June.

New York City will be manufacturing more than 60,000 test kits a week by early June and is working to hire and train 1,500 contact tracers in efforts to meet tracing capacity goals by mid-June, de Blasio said.

"We're confident we're going to get there," said de Blasio. "There's a real subtle balance that needs to be struck."

But the Mayor warned meeting the city and state's criteria — at which point a slow reopening will begin — would not mean a complete return to normal life.

"We gotta then make restrictions on how to loosen up," de Blasio said. "The most important role I play is to protect people's health and safety."

Perhaps the most difficult decision de Blasio faces is how and when to reopen schools especially as hospitals report more and more cases of Multi-system Inflammatory Syndrome in Children, a potentially fatal disease the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed this weekend is linked to COVID-19.

But despite 145 MISC cases reported in New York City — one claiming the life of a 5-year-old boy — de Blasio said his goal is to reopen public schools.

"Plan A is absolutely reopen the schools because that's what's in the interest of our kids and our families," said de Blasio. "I'm speaking as a parent."

The mayor is currently considering safety measures that include alternating school days, staggered schedules and some variation of remote learning.

Parents were once again warned to seek medical attention if their children show symptoms such as fever, stomach pain, rash or swelling, but the city's warning Monday newly included irritability or sluggishness, conjunctivitis and an enlarged lymph node gland.

De Blasio told New Yorkers to expect more information about the city's and school's reopening timeline in the weeks ahead, saying it was too soon to release concrete plans.

"It's May for god's sake," de Blasio said. "We will make the decision at the right time."