New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday offered what he called “just plain good news” on the virus’s spread in the city.
De Blasio said all indicators — hospitalizations, ICU admittances and percent of the population that tested positive — were all down.
Daily hospitalizations of people with suspected COVID-19 went down from 227 to 176, which the mayor called a “serious decline.” The number of people admitted to ICUs on a daily basis decreased from 796 to 786 and the citywide percentage of people who tested positive went from 32% to 30%.
De Blasio also spoke about the disproportionate ways the virus appears to affect communities of color. His Equity Action Plan includes active testing sites in those communities and advertisements that are broadcasted in 15 languages in 88 zip codes.
He said even after the pandemic ends, New Yorkers can never “look away” from these disparities.