This morning Mayor Bill DeBlasio stated that he is strongly considering issuing a shelter in place order for all city residents in an effort to flatten the COVID-19 infection curve. The Mayor urged New York Residents to be prepared and that he would be making the ‘very, very difficult” decision in the next 48 hours.
At 5 p.m. today, New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams released a statement in support of shelter in place for the city calling on, “Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to create a defined “shelter-in-place” policy-not a quarantine- immediately.”
The truth is that we have been behind when it comes to restrictive citywide policies.
It’s time for executive leadership. I’m calling on @NYGovCuomo & @NYCMayor to create a defined “shelter-in-place” policy—not a quarantine—immediately.#NYCTogether#CoronaVirusUpdate#COVID19
— Office of the Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams (@nycpa) March 17, 2020
William’s full statement below:
“As the spread of COVID-19 continues, our city and state have had to make a number of difficult decisions to impose restrictions for the good of the public’s health. While I know that these decisions take much consideration, the truth is that we have been behind when it comes to these restrictive citywide policies.
“It’s time for decisive executive leadership. I’m calling on Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio to create a defined “shelter-in-place” policy-not a quarantine- immediately, one that is reassessed on a weekly or biweekly basis. Under such a system, New Yorkers who are asymptomatic/non-vulnerable and non-essential employees would be able to leave their home for food, medicine, and light exercise, but the message would be clear: stay home unless absolutely necessary.
For the 80-90% of New Yorkers who will not experience the most serious symptoms, the 10-20% who will are depending on our good judgement in adhering to a shelter-in-place strategy. We shouldn’t have to relearn lessons from other cities, localities and countries. This moment demands that the city and state act now, and adjust and evolve as needed, to curb a pandemic that is growing by the day.”
City Resources to stay up to date on COVID19:
You can receive regular, accurate updates from @NotifyNYC by texting ‘COVID’ to 692692 or ‘COVIDESP’ to 692692 for Spanish language updates.
Check here for the latest news from New York State Department of Health.
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