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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says the city won’t reopen before June “unless something miraculous happens” as it continues to grapple with the coronavirus pandemic.
De Blasio, during a press conference on Monday, was asked when New York City — which has the largest number of COVID-19 cases of any city in the country — would re-open.
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“Unless something miraculous happens, we’re going into June,” de Blasio said Monday, adding that New York City is “clearly not ready yet.”
He added: “It’s fair to say by June we will make progress if we keep up what we have been doing.”
De Blasio sad the earliest non-essential businesses in the city could open is June 7. De Blasio also was asked about schools reopening, which he said he expects to do “safely” in September.
Meanwhile, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday said that the state is beginning “a new chapter today.”
“May 15 is the end of statewide closure,” Cuomo said Monday.
Over the weekend, Cuomo’s executive order extended the state-wide emergency order over COVID-19, but did not change the date for the blanket stay-at-home order to be lifted.
New York, which has been the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the U.S., is still expected to begin its “Phase 1” reopening on May 15, which includes businesses in construction, manufacturing and retail with curb-side pickup.
As of Monday, New York reported more than 335,000 positive cases of COVID-19, with more than 184,000 of those cases in New York City. The state has reported more than 21,400 deaths.
