In hard-hit New York City, “this virus is tragically still alive and well,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said Friday.
New York City saw 2,637 confirmed new cases of the coronavirus on Thursday, and 202 people in the city died on Thursday, he said.
“We have to realize that numbers like that tell us there’s still a real fight ahead,” de Blasio said.
“If you open the door a little bit … it comes back strong,” he warned.
De Blasio announced Friday that Paul Cary, a paramedic from Aurora, Colorado, who came to New York City to help during the crisis, has died from the coronavirus.
After three decades of serving the people of Aurora, “he made the choice to come here and save lives,” De Blasio said.
“Paul gave his life for us,” the mayor said, calling him “heroic.”
De Blasio said a memorial will be created in New York City to honor him and “to remember all those who came to our defense.”
As the weather warms, New York City is opening streets to pedestrians and bicyclists to ease crowding.
The first streets will open on Monday with 4.5 miles inside parks and 2.7 miles of streets adjacent to parks, de Blasio said.
Gatherings still remain off limits and the minute police know about a gathering, it will be shut down, de Blasio warned. He said if New Yorkers want to reach “normalcy,” they cannot participate in or condone a gathering.
Subways will shut down from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. to allow proper cleaning and disinfecting. This is believed to be the first time the subway has had a regularly scheduled, system wide halt in the 52 years of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
