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Mayor Bill de Blasio suggests New York City coronavirus lockdown will last until at least JULY
MAYOR Bill de Blasio has suggested New York City's coronavirus lockdown will last until at least July.
As New York state's social distancing and shelter-in-place orders remain in effect until May 15, de Blasio admitted he sees "the light at the end of the tunnel" - but said it would require "a lot of discipline."
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"I think if we're tough about it, strong about it, disciplined about it - and I think Americans are ready to do this.
"We can drive it back in the course of months," he said during a Thursday interview with FOX News.
When Fox News anchor Bill Hemmer asked if July would be an ideal time for the city to open up, de Blasio suggested towards the end of the summer.
“July, August are the months where we have to begin to get back to normal," de Blasio replied.
The NYC Mayor stressed the importance of getting schools and "everything" up and running by September.
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He wants to get Americans' expectations lowered because a national recovery will not be possible without top US cities getting back on their feet.
De Blasio explained giving Americans "false hope" would make New Yorkers believe it's ok to have gatherings in stadiums with thousands of people as soon as the shelter-in-place orders are lifted.
“But the light at the end of the tunnel is later on in the summer, as we go into the fall, we can get it right. But [it will take] a lot of discipline.”
He continued: "Between now and then we have to drive the disease down to the point where it's truly contained and we have very few cases anymore.
"That's what I think is going to tell that we are truly back to normal."
De Blasio projected the city will see a loss of about $7.5 billion in revenue.
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His suggestions come as the state's Gov. Andrew Cuomo extended the PAUSE executive order - which requires non-essential workers to say home - in an effort to continue to stop the spread of coronavirus.
New Yorkers must stay home until mid-May and are required to wear face masks in Ubers and on public transportation, Gov. Cuomo announced Thursday.
“We have to continue doing what we’re doing. I’d like to see that infection rate get down even more," the governor told reporters on Thursday.
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He added: "The New York Pause policies, the close-down policies, will be extended in coordination with other states to May 15."
The lockdown was previously scheduled to end on April 30.
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“So, one month, we’ll continue the close-down policies. What happens after then? I don’t know. We will see what the data shows,” Cuomo said.
“I don’t want to project beyond that period.”
Cuomo said that from Wednesday to Thursday, there were 606 deaths, which is a slight decrease from Tuesday’s death toll of 752 — and the lowest in 10 days.
He said hospitalizations also dropped from 18,000 to 17,000 and said intubations and ventilator usage is down.
Meanwhile, President Donald the country by May 1.
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