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De Blasio Recommends Full Shutdown of NYC Businesses After Christmas

Mayor Bill de Blasio Photo: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office

Dec. 15, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Mayor Bill de Blasio said New York City could face a second shutdown after Christmas–should COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

“We’re dealing with a second wave…,” de Blasio said. “We’re going to need to do some kind of shutdown in the weeks ahead.”

The mayor said that while the state ultimately makes the call as to whether to close nonessential businesses, he would recommend a shutdown go into effect following the major holiday.

“My nomination would be right after Christmas,” the mayor said.

The holiday season is expected to cause a significant uptick in the already soaring number of new COVID-19 cases, health experts say. On Sunday, the number of new cases climbed to more than 2,800 — far above the city’s ideal threshold of 550 new cases.

“We want to be under 550,” de Blasio said. “It’s going to take weeks and weeks to get back down there, but we will, especially now that we have the vaccine on our side.”

De Blasio estimated that nearly 41,000 doses of the vaccine would be disbursed across 42 hospitals around the city by the end of Tuesday.

“Today we start the beginning of a new era,” de Blasio said. “Today we begin the work of ensuring that the vaccine reaches as many New Yorkers as possible as quickly as possible.”