ONE YEAR AGO TODAY: Officials try to calm nerves as NY reports 1st COVID-19 case.
“We want New Yorkers to go about their everyday lives — use the subway, take the bus, etc.,” city Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot said, explaining that COVID-19 “is not an illness that can be easily spread through casual contact.”
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said the virus is thought to spread mainly via respiratory droplets among “close contacts” — such as coming directly into contact with the droplets or certain other bodily fluids from a patient, or being within about 6 feet (2 meters) of a patient for “a prolonged period.”
More than 80,000 cases of COVID-19 have occurred worldwide since the virus emerged in China. About 3,000 people have died. The illness is characterized by fever and coughing and, in serious cases, shortness of breath or pneumonia.
De Blasio said he was confident residents would go about their regular lives. “New Yorkers do not scare easily,” he said.
To be fair, de Blasio had no problem going about his regular life during the pandemic:
● Mayor de Blasio dances in Times Square with his wife after shutting down annual New Year’s Eve party.
● Bill de Blasio’s pandemic bungling.
● Suddenly Bill de Blasio Is Worried About ‘Violent Unrest’ — in Hasidic Jewish Communities.
● ‘We Do Not Have A Plan’: De Blasio Admits Having No Timeline For Reopening NYC Indoor Dining.
● Mayor de Blasio forced to defend his grasp on reality of New York City.
● NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio Invokes John Lennon’s “Imagine” To Dismiss The Idea Of Defunding Police.
● Bill de Blasio and wife stroll through Brooklyn’s Prospect Park amid coronavirus.
● De Blasio’s latest crazy, no-good nepotistic job for Chirlane McCray. McCray was appointed head of “coronavirus racial inequality task force.”
h/t Ed Driscoll