New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has urged people not travel out of the state this Thanksgiving and is calling on the federal gover...
New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio has urged people not travel out of the state this Thanksgiving and is calling on the federal government to mandate providing a negative coronavirus test result before boarding a plane.
The mayor made the plea Tuesday during a press conference after the city recently experienced a surge in COVID-19 cases, leading to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordering mandatory periods of quarantine for people traveling in from 47 states.
'I hate to say it, but I have to urge all New Yorkers: Do not travel out of state for the holiday,' the mayor said of advice from health officials.
'Realize that by doing that, unfortunately, you could be putting yourself and your family in danger and also the risk of bringing the disease back here.'
But De Blasio was blasted online by critics who called him a hypocrite and pointed out that he went to visit family out of state on Columbus Day.
Mayor Bill de Blasio told New Yorkers 'Do not travel out of state for the holiday' on Tuesday
The mayor is pushing for a mandate that requires negative tests before flying out of JFK and LaGuardia airports
De Blasio said the city wants to 'make it easy and clear that anyone coming off a plane should immediately get tested as well.' A passenger airplane lands at LaGuardia Airport on October 1
The seven-day average for new cases across the city stood at 528 on Monday, which is below the threshold of 550 which would indicate increasing spread of the virus.
But several hotspots in Brooklyn - including Borough Park, Mapleton and Midwood - remain in the 'red zone' indicating the locations of the highest number of cases.
Of the 496,655 positive cases reported over the past three days in New York State on Sunday, 258,979 were from NYC and 424 of those were new cases from the city, Cuomo reported Monday.
The seven-day rolling average of daily cases in the city was 355 cases on Sunday.
With the Big Apple daily positivity rate at 2.48% and the seven-day rolling average 1.66% on Monday, De Blasio also warned that he will shut schools again if the weekly average figure reached 3%.
While he described the seven-day averages for NYC as 'fairly stable,' de Blasio said: 'We have a real threat of a second wave here in New York City, and we've been fighting it back but we can't take it lightly.'
De Blasio acknowledged that the holiday season is when New Yorkers want to see their loved one most and sympathized with those concerned about older family members.
However he determined that leaving the state was risky considering the rising numbers around the country and across the globe.
'Everyone is going to make their own decision, I know there are painful choices. I get it. But my recommendation is to avoid travel this holiday season. Stay safe, to keep us all safe,' de Blasio said.
'I can't see traveling to family in other places,' he said about his own plans. 'I can't see it working for anybody. It's sad, it's very sad. I really really love it, care about it.
'But, I'm sort of telling myself what I'm telling everyone else: This may be the one year in our life we have to change our patterns, just take a deep breath and know that next year will be better.'
The mayor's office announced on October 12 that de Blasio was himself visiting family out of state, after he was snubbed by organizers of a major Columbus Day event in New York City.
Following his latest remarks, the mayor was slammed online by furious residents who have grown frustrated at the strict lockdown measures in New York City compared to the rest of NY state and the wider country.
Some took to Twitter to complain, saying New Yorkers can't stay home forever and suggested that people move to states that are more relaxed about the lockdowns, such as Florida.
Others pointed out how his strict thinking about safe travel wasn't in line with how children have been rushed back into in-person learning in schools.
He also tweeted his plea for people in the Big Apple to forgo travel this Thanksgiving holiday
Some Twitter users responded that they couldn't do the holidays without seeing family after the COVID-19 outbreak
Others suggested moving to another part of the country where restrictions aren't as harsh
One Twitter user mentioned a national strategy for handling the coronavirus pandemic
One social media user complained that the mayor didn't have the same concern when it came to sending children back into classrooms
One person said some youngsters were made to go back sooner than expected because the option of future enrollment was taken away.
De Blasio also called for mandatory COVID tests at airports for those getting on a plane.
'We want to make it easy and clear that anyone coming off a plane should immediately get tested as well,' de Blasio continued.
'It's not about the airline industry, it's about your health, your family's health, the city's health and safety. The country, that's what we should be thinking about.'
Temperature checks have been taking place at JFK and New Jersey's Newark Airport which is often used by those visiting and living in NYC.
Until the last couple of months, Newark only administered tests to airline employees and related parties.
XpresSpa Group has been switching from providing spa services at airports in the midst of the global pandemic to carrying out tests.
Although the airline industry is reporting record losses due to the pandemic and some have made plans to start filling middle seats again in a bid to increase earnings, the mayor indicated that it wasn't a good idea for New Yorkers to travel now considering the health risk.
Earlier this month, the International Air Transportation Association (IATA) reported that there had only been 44 instances of COVID-19 transmission linked to flights out of 1.2 billion journeys taken this year.
However it doesn't look into chances of being infected while not in the assigned aircraft seat and at the airport.
Dr David Freedman, of the University of Alabama, said IATA's statistics failed to take into account how many infections probably went unknown and called the findings the result of 'bad math.'
However in a report released Tuesday that was funded by airlines, Harvard scientists said flying to visit loved ones this holiday season poses a low risk for catching or spreading coronavirus and that air travel is likely 'as safe or substantially safer' than every day activities like grocery shopping and dining out.
But keeping transmission risks of COVID-19 during airline flights very low relies on travelers to use face coverings and for airlines to up their sanitation efforts, scientists at the Harvard School of Public Health said.
While Tuesday's report from Harvard seems to provide positive news about infections while on planes, it does not take into account those that travel out of state, catch the virus and then return home - something that officials are keen to avoid.
The report, funded by Airlines for America - a trade group representing American Airlines, United Airlines, Delta Air Lines and others - and a consortium of aircraft and equipment manufacturers and airport operators, comes as US airlines lose billions of dollars a month as passenger demand remains down 65 percent year on year because of the coronavirus.
US carriers are operating just 50 percent the flights they did in 2019. Some carriers have recently announced new plans to end blocking of middle seats during the pandemic.
The US is reporting an average of 70,000 new cases a day.
The area for TSA screening of travelers at JFK airport's Terminal 1 is relatively empty on March 13 in New York. Airlines have started filling middle seats again after it was reported that the risk of contracting COVID-19 in a plane seat was low
However one expert said that the military findings were the result of 'bad math' as it didn't consider aspects of traveling outside of sitting in an aircraft seat
Travelers at the American Airlines Terminal 8 check-in counter at JFK airport on October 1
Nearly half a million people in the United States have contracted the novel coronavirus in the last seven days, according to a Reuters tally, as cases and hospitalizations set fresh records in hot spots in the Midwest.
More than 5,600 people have been infected with the virus nationwide in the last week, with hospitalizations shooting up 13%, a Reuters analysis showed.
Illinois, which has emerged as a hot spot in recent weeks, reported over 31,000 new cases in the last seven days, more new infections than any other state except Texas.
President Donald Trump has lashed out repeatedly at reports that the coronavirus is surging, and reiterated his false claim that the country is 'rounding the turn' in its battle with the virus that has killed approximately 225,800 people.
With the Big Apple daily positivity rate at 2.48% and seven-day rolling average 1.66%, De Blasio also warned that he will shut schools again if the weekly average figure reached 3%
As of Sunday the 7-day rolling average was 355 coronavirus cases in New York City but it's creeping up
COVID-19 hotspot neighborhoods in Brooklyn include Borough Park, Mapleton and Midwood
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