Cuomo, de Blasio warn NYC to prepare for 'full shutdown'

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New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Monday warned that the city could soon be facing a “full shutdown” and that the city needed to “get ready” for such an event -- as COVID-19 metrics remain high in the Big Apple.

In a press conference with reporters, he referenced remarks by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, who warned that a new shutdown could be coming.

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“The governor said in a New York Times interview over the weekend that we should prepare for the possibility of a full shutdown,” de Blasio said. “I agree with that, we need to recognize that that may be coming and we’ve got to get ready for that now because we cannot let this virus keep growing especially at a moment we are finally getting the vaccine and can turn the corner.

On Sunday, the mayor’s office announced that there had been 206 hospitalizations, above the city’s 200 threshold, while there were 2,209 new cases and a seven-day average positivity rate of 5.53%.

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On Friday, Cuomo had noted recent growth in metrics and told the Times: “If you extrapolate out at this rate of growth, you could be looking at the shutdown of New York City within a month.”

De Blasio spoke as a new shutdown of indoor dining in the city, announced by Cuomo last week and backed by the mayor, went into effect. Restaurants had been permitted to resume indoor dining at 25% capacity on Sept. 30 after months of being shut down, but that was ended on Monday with no indication they would reopen any time soon.

De Blasio spoke also as the vaccine began being administered in NYC, which he described as a “shot of hope.” Sandra Lindsay, RN, a critical care nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center was the first to receive the shot.

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The vaccines will go to health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities before the country enters the next phases of distribution.

"We are not done yet with the coronavirus. So let's celebrate today. Let's be hopeful. It is a shot of hope. Let's be clear. It's not just a shot in the medical sense. It's a shot of hope," he said. “But we have to keep fighting this virus in the meantime. So we remain vigilant. We're going to have a tough December, a tough January.”