New York City is extending its cancellation of permitted nonessential events through June as officials work to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) announced Monday.
De Blasio said in a news conference that the move will apply to parades, concerts, rallies and other large gatherings. He noted that the LGBT Pride, Puerto Rican Day and Salute to Israel parades would be affected by the decision.
“The bottom line is to think about safety, to think about saving lives, protecting people’s health, speeding us to that day when we get more normal,” de Blasio said. “This is the right thing to do.”
De Blasio added that many of the event organizers are already developing plans to hold the festivities later in the year. He specifically cited the LGBT Pride Parade, noting that New York City was preparing for its 50th anniversary of the first celebration.
“We’re going to miss them, but they will be back, and we will find the right way to do it,” de Blasio said.
The comments from de Blasio came just a day after New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that the state’s infection rate had slowed and that it appeared the peak of the outbreak was subsiding.
Cuomo said that hospitalizations in the state had dipped to about 16,000 over a 24-hour period, noting that if “this trend holds, we are past the high point.”
“All indications at this point are that we are on the descent,” he said. “Whether or not the descent continues depends on what we do, but right now we are on the descent.”
The New York metropolitan area has become the epicenter of the U.S. coronavirus outbreak. In New York City alone, the health department had reported nearly 130,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus, and roughly 8,800 confirmed deaths as of Monday morning.
The Trump administration last week released guidelines for a phased reopening of parts of the U.S. economy. The advisory included recommendations that states see a decline in documented cases over a period of 14 days before moving to reopen.
Health officials and some governors have warned that the U.S. doesn’t yet have the testing capacity to effectively reopen.