De Blasio presses for second total lockdown in NYC

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) reiterated his belief Tuesday that the city needs to go into a full lockdown as COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

“Clearly these numbers are going in the wrong direction,” de Blasio said, according to NBC4 New York. “Unfortunately, and I don’t say it with anything but sorrow, but I do think it’s needed. We’re going to need to do some kind of shutdown in the weeks ahead, something that resembles the pause we were in in the spring.”

#BREAKING: Mayor Bill de Blasio urges post-Christmas lockdown: “We’re going to do need to some kind of shutdown in the weeks ahead.” pic.twitter.com/ZfrSdvLfuB

— The Hill (@thehill) December 15, 2020

The policy to which he was referring entailed a total lockdown, with the exception of emergency workers, that was put into place after New York became the epicenter of the COVID-19 epidemic in the U.S. The plan banned “non-essential gatherings of individuals of any size for any reason” and closed all nonessential businesses statewide, among other things.

According to stats de Blasio shared on Twitter, New York experienced 160 new hospitalizations and 2,813 new cases of the coronavirus on Tuesday. 

“There is real work that needs to be done to push these numbers back down,” he wrote.

Today’s indicators:

• 160 new hospitalizations
• 2,813 new cases
• 5.51% positivity rate (7-day avg.)

There is real work that needs to be done to push these numbers back down. Avoid unnecessary travel, wear a face mask, get tested.

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) December 15, 2020

In response to The Hill’s request for comment, Cuomo’s office pointed to his remarks from a press conference on Monday, during which he said calls on lockdowns are “based on numbers.”