By Dominic Thomas-
New York is planning to close all schools amid the introduction of new restrictions aimed at curbing the coronavirus, after Mayor Bill de Blasio(pictured) warning it was the city’s “last chance” to stop a second wave.
Bars, restaurants and gyms must currently close by 22:00 under the fresh restrictions, and people can only meet in groups of 10 or less. The new restrictions follows a surge in coronavirus – a record 61,964 Americans were in hospital on Tuesday.
Mayor Blasio is understood to be in favour of shutting down the New York City’s public school system and begin moving classes online classes across Newyork.
The closure could happen anytime soon in the wake of news that over a million new cases in November pushed the total confirmed cases to over 10 million nationally with 239,732 deaths so far.
The move will threaten the education of thousands of children, leaving mainly kids in good schools motivated and capable enough to carry on developing online. Serious students in New York high school are not in short supply, but teenagers in their numbers will be at home aimless, conveniently skipping academic work.
Amid the health crises is president Trump’s refusal to concede defeat and enable a smooth transition.
U.S statistics reveals over 100,000 new cases of the coronavirus per day over the last 10 days in what is considered to be be a worse outbreak than those seen in the spring and summer. The statistics does not specify whether the cases consist of Covid-19 patients with other underlying issues or not.
On Wednesday a member of President-elect Joe Biden’s Covid-19 advisory panel called for a four to six week lockdown in an attempt the pandemic under control.
“We’re seeing a national and global Covid surge, and New York is a ship on the Covid tide,” state Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Wednesday.
New measures coming into effect on Friday affecting hospitality after Mr Cuomo said contact tracing identified late-night gatherings as key virus spreaders in the state.
Terrific Hit
New York City has been terrifically hit by the virus, after nearly 18,000 people died with Covid-19 in March, April and May, according to the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Texas became the first state to hit one million total cases. If Texas were a separate country, it would rank 11th in the world for most cases.
Other states, including Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California and Florida, have also seen numbers rise. CBS News reports 15 states saw the numbers of patients in hospital due to the virus double in the last month. President Trump’s administration has been widely criticised for its handling of the pandemic, one of the crucial issues believed to have ruined his chances of re-election in this year’s U.S elections.