A screengrab from the live streaming of MSNBC shows New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio appearing on Morning Joe on Oct. 23, 2020. (Xinhua)
The mayor attributed the city's upper hand over the virus to the fact that it looked around the world for every standard and rule that worked, took them all and combined them into a gold standard.
NEW YORK, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said here on Friday that the biggest city of the United States has fought hard against the COVID-19 pandemic, and is steeling itself up to ward off the second wave of coronavirus.
"We're not seeing a second wave in New York City and we are fighting back any indication that might suggest even the beginning of them," he said while appearing live on MSNBC's Morning Joe.
"We're going to -- if we see even a beginning of a second wave, we hit hard at that. So, I'm feeling very good that we can get through this winter strong," he added.
The mayor particularly pointed out that the city's school system was operated as expected with 1,600 public schools open, kids not going to cafeterias for lunch but eating in their classrooms, and a typical New York City classroom now having about 10 kids in it instead of 25 in the past.
Tourists enjoy the autumn scenery at Central Park in New York, the United States, Oct. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
He also said that 10,000 restaurants and outdoor dining jobs were coming back, adding that "It's going to be a long road, but New Yorkers are proving this vibrant city is going to come back strong."
The mayor attributed the city's upper hand over the virus to the fact that it looked around the world for every standard and rule that worked, took them all and combined them into a gold standard.
"We learned it the hard way. We went through so much pain. But New Yorkers really, out of that experience, found a lot of discipline and strength," said de Blasio.
One of the lessons that New Yorkers have learnt was that the vast majority of the people wore masks and practiced the distancing with tough rules in place to guarantee the results, said the mayor.
"Overall, the city is doing really well. One of the lowest positivity rates in the whole country. We've seen this sustained," he added.
A tourist enjoys the autumn scenery at Central Park in New York, the United States, Oct. 22, 2020. (Xinhua/Wang Ying)
The mayor tweeted on Wednesday that the latest figures showed 77 patients admitted to hospitals with 493 new cases and an infection rate of 1.56 percent in the city.
On Thursday, some restrictions were removed in two boroughs of New York City, as changes and improvements of New York State's "micro-cluster" strategy against the COVID-19 spread started to take effect.
In Queens, Red and Orange Zones have been downgraded to Yellow Zones, while in Brooklyn, Orange Zones have been downgraded to Yellow. The city's businesses in any zone that's moved from Red and Orange to Yellow can reopen Thursday, and the schools in the zones that have moved to Yellow will reopen on Monday, Oct. 26, announced the mayor.
As of Friday afternoon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 33,396 coronavirus deaths in New York State for the past seven months, the worst among all the states of the country. ■
