New Yorkers will know “within 48 hours” if they are confined to their homes, with the maintenance of only “essential” services: this is what the mayor of the first American metropolis announced on Tuesday during his daily coronavirus briefing.
“All New Yorkers, even though no decision has been made by city or state, must now prepare for the possibility of a containment order,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio.
“This is a discussion that we are starting today, and that we are having in parallel with the State” of New York, he said. “I think we have to come to a decision within 48 hours.”
He didn’t say exactly what that would mean for America’s financial and cultural capital and its 8.5 million people.
Since Tuesday, bars and restaurants are already closed there – except for take-out – public schools too, as well as all cultural and tourist places. Telecommuting has been recommended to anyone who can.
Mr. De Blasio said in particular that he could not specify at this stage whether this would mean that people could no longer leave the city.
He used the same term, “shelter-in-place”, used Monday by the mayor of San Francisco, when announcing this measure for the Californian city.
It was New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo who finally decided Sunday to force the city to close its public schools, which the mayor was still hesitant to do.
In a separate press briefing Monday morning, Cuomo said several measures were possible, including closing all non-essential stores and services.
But he also added that if we forced “people to stay in one place,” some would “panic”, and encouraged people to go out into the many parks in the state.
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