By — Courtney Vinopal Courtney Vinopal Leave a comment 0comments Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/watch-mayor-de-blasio-says-nyc-is-preparing-for-phase-one-of-reopening Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter WATCH: Mayor de Blasio on how NYC is preparing for phase one of reopening Health May 26, 2020 12:11 PM EDT Mayor Bill de Blasio said on May 26 that New York City was preparing for the first phase of reopening its economy amid recovery from the novel coronavirus outbreak. Watch Mayor de Blasio’s remarks in the player above. He said that his office was assessing the needs of each industry, as well as regulations that may be necessary as certain businesses — such as restaurants and retailers — are allowed to reopen at a limited capacity. “We’re thinking about all the pieces,” de Blasio said, noting that as hundreds of thousands of people go back, it will be more difficult for the city’s transit systems to enforce social distancing. “The work of preparing for the restart is going on every single day. But it’s led by the indicators and thresholds telling us if it’s that time.” The mayor noted that the daily number of patients admitted to city hospitals due to COVID-19 has dropped to well below 200, and that the percentage of city residents testing positive for the virus dropped from 71 percent at the end of March to 7 percent today. “The numbers have to keep moving in the right direction” in order for the city to enter phase one of its reopening, noted de Blasio. By — Courtney Vinopal Courtney Vinopal Courtney Vinopal is a general assignment reporter at the PBS NewsHour. @cglennvino
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on May 26 that New York City was preparing for the first phase of reopening its economy amid recovery from the novel coronavirus outbreak. Watch Mayor de Blasio’s remarks in the player above. He said that his office was assessing the needs of each industry, as well as regulations that may be necessary as certain businesses — such as restaurants and retailers — are allowed to reopen at a limited capacity. “We’re thinking about all the pieces,” de Blasio said, noting that as hundreds of thousands of people go back, it will be more difficult for the city’s transit systems to enforce social distancing. “The work of preparing for the restart is going on every single day. But it’s led by the indicators and thresholds telling us if it’s that time.” The mayor noted that the daily number of patients admitted to city hospitals due to COVID-19 has dropped to well below 200, and that the percentage of city residents testing positive for the virus dropped from 71 percent at the end of March to 7 percent today. “The numbers have to keep moving in the right direction” in order for the city to enter phase one of its reopening, noted de Blasio.