Mayor Bill de Blasio says New York City is facing an ‘unprecedented threat’ from coronavirus

Mayor Bill de Blasio has warned residents of New York City to settle into a ‘new reality’ as he expects the coronavirus pandemic to rage on for months.  

De Blasio is taking drastic measures to stem the spread of COVID-19 in America’s largest city, where 269 cases have been confirmed and five people have died to date. 

On Sunday the mayor announced the closure of 1,900 schools and said he would be signing an executive order limit the city’s 27,000 restaurants, bars and cafes to food takeout and delivery beginning Tuesday morning at 9am.  

‘I fear this crisis is going to start to crescendo through April, May before it gets better,’ de Blasio told MSNBC on Monday morning.

‘I wanted to get people acclimated to a new reality.’ 

De Blasio repeated criticisms of the federal government’s handling of the outbreak and pleaded with the Trump administration to coordinate a national response, saying patchwork measures enacted by state and local authorities were insufficient to confront a national emergency.

Echoing concerns from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, he said that New York doesn’t have enough medical supplies to handle the outbreak and called for the Army to step in. 

‘The US military right now is still engaged in building those border walls. Take them off that and put them on coronavirus for god sakes,’ de Blasio said. 

‘This should be a reality where the United States is put on a war footing, where the federal government mobilizes all the resources necessary – and it begins with testing.’   

The mayor said broader testing is needed for the entire population, not just high-risk groups such as the elderly and people with pre-existing conditions. 

He also expressed fear that hospitals will quickly become overwhelmed as cases counts continue to rise.  

‘We’re going to have to set up emergency ICUs in hospitals, not only all over New York City, all over America,’ he said. 

‘We’re going to need the United States military to come in with their substantial logistical and medical capacity.’ 

De Blasio compared the outbreak to America’s darkest historic periods as he suggested that rationing food and other essentials may be necessary.   

‘The Great Depression and the New Deal are very instructive here, I’m not saying bread lines,’ he said.  

‘This is a pure war footing right down to rationing if you need it.’ 

De Blasio announced the closure of schools, bars, restaurants and other common gathering places in a series of tweets on Sunday. 

‘Our lives are all changing in ways that were unimaginable just a week ago. We are taking a series of actions that we never would have taken otherwise in an effort to save the lives of loved ones and our neighbors. Now it is time to take yet another drastic step,’ he wrote.

‘The virus can spread rapidly through the close interactions New Yorkers have in restaurants, bars and places where we sit close together. We have to break that cycle. 

‘Tomorrow, I will sign an Executive Order limiting restaurants, bars and cafes to food take-out and delivery. Nightclubs, movie theaters, small theater houses, and concert venues must all close. The order will go into effect Tuesday, March 17 at 9:00 AM.’

 He continued: ‘This is not a decision I make lightly. These places are part of the heart and soul of our city. They are part of what it means to be a New Yorker. But our city is facing an unprecedented threat, and we must respond with a wartime mentality.’

‘We will come through this, but until we do, we must make whatever sacrifices necessary to help our fellow New Yorkers.’

Earlier in the day de Blasio announced that the entire New York School District – which serves 1.1 million students – would be closed beginning on Monday and continuing at least through April. 

He suggested that the closures could extend through the end of the school year. 

The news came after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against holding large gatherings of more than 50 people for at least eight weeks to curb the outbreak. 

In a memo shared on its website, the CDC advised state officials that large events and mass gatherings, such as festivals, conferences and parades, could contribute to the spread of COVID-19.

‘Therefore, CDC, in accordance with its guidance for large events and mass gatherings recommends that for the next 8 weeks, organizers cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States,’ the memo said. 

More than 3,800 people in the US have tested positive for coronavirus and 69 people have died as of Monday morning.  

Schools have been closed in more than 30 states and at least five states have shuttered bars. Several cities have moved to shut down cinemas, theaters, concert venues and other sites where people congregate.

Washington, Ohio, Illinois and Massachusetts all ordered bars and restaurants to offer take out food only on Sunday. 

California has asked all bars to shut and Los Angeles has ordered owners of establishments to shut them down.

The developments mean economic hardship for millions of service industry workers who will miss out on tips even if they are still paid. Many independent businesses are also unlikely to be able to survive a period of prolonged closure. 

President Donald Trump, a Republican, declared a national emergency on Friday and has championed his government’s response. 

On Sunday he told Americans to ‘take it easy’, insisting that the outbreak is under ‘tremendous control’.

Trump urged citizens not to stockpile food and said the federal, state and local governments are all working with retail leaders, including Walmart, Costco, Target, Whole Foods, Publix and several more, to ensure there are no shortages of goods and food.    

 

Meanwhile, Democratic leaders have criticized the president for downplaying the crisis and issuing misleading or false statements.

Gov Cuomo on Monday morning said the federal government needs to draw up uniform measures for all states to follow, rather than have each state act independently. 

He warned of a looming crisis as the US healthcare system will get overwhelmed with patients.

‘In an emergency, someone has to take charge,’ Cuomo told CNN. 

‘You have to have consolidated centralized authority. It makes no sense for all these states to be doing different things.’

Many localities are following the recommendation of the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention against large gatherings for two weeks.

At least 33 states have decided to close public schools, which combined with district closures in other states has shuttered least 64,000 US schools, according to Education Week.

There were further calls for urgency from within the Trump administration. 

US Surgeon General Dr. Jerome Adams said it was important to react aggressively to combat the spread of the virus.

‘We are at a critical inflection point in this country,’ Adams said in an interview with Fox News.

‘We are where Italy was two weeks ago in terms of our numbers and we have a choice to make as a nation: Do we want to go the direction of South Korea and really be aggressive and lower our mortality rates or do we want to go the direction of Italy?’

Italy is the second worst hit country in the world after China, where the illness first emerged late last year, and the outbreak has shown no signs of slowing, with 24,747 cases and 1,809 deaths by Sunday.

South Korea has been widely praised for its strict measures to control the virus.

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro said on Monday he was preparing to bring an executive order to Trump that would help relocate medical supply chains from overseas to the United States during the coronavirus outbreak.

Navarro, in a CNBC interview, also said Trump’s push for a payroll tax cut would provide enough stimulus to help combat the economic damage from the coronavirus.