The mayor of New York has announced that he plans to “fully open” the city from July 1

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced that he plans to open the city to 100% activity as of July 1, following high COVID-19 vaccination figures in the city.

“Our plan is to fully open New York City on July 1. We are ready to open the stores. Companies, offices, theaters, in full force“Said in an interview with the MSNBC channel.

“People have been vaccinated in extraordinary numbers. 6.3 million doses to date. We make an effort to reach the people at the grassroots“He added. However, he assured that to reach this opening, the vaccination campaign must continue without slowing down.” We must continue to work, “he stressed.

The latest data from authorities shows that 52% of New Yorkers (3.4 million people) have received a dose of the COVID vaccine, while 36% (2.4 million people) have already completed the vaccination process.

In addition, the New York Department of Health and Hospitals this week began deploying 3 minibuses to bring the covid-19 vaccine and other health care to homeless people in the city. Medical staff were deployed to Manhattan’s Midtown, Upper West Side, and Washington Heights neighborhoods on Tuesday, where they administered Johnson & Johnson’s single-dose vaccine, after U.S. federal regulators re-approved its use after a hiatus from 2 weeks.

“We want every New Yorker to have the same, the same opportunities to be vaccinated,” Ted Long, executive director of the Covid-19 Analysis and Surveillance Department in New York City, told local Gothamist media.

Despite the start of the resumption of sporting activities and some entertainment, major attractions such as Broadway musicals are still not accessible: until Thursday’s announcement, their return was slated for September.

Last week, New York City officials announced the largest tourism campaign in history to boost the city’s recovery. With a budget of several tens of millions of dollars, the initiative will initially focus on local tourism, since it represents more than half of the volume under normal conditions.

The devastating consequences of COVID-19 on New York’s tourism sector in 2020 were obvious to anyone walking through the city’s iconic places, but on Wednesday authorities put a number to the debacle: 44 million fewer tourists and $ 60,000 million less than in 2019.

The number of visitors fell 67%, from 66.6 million in 2019 to 22.3 million in 2020, and the sector’s revenue fell by about 75%, from $ 80.3 billion in 2019 to $ 20.2 billion last year, the State Comptroller’s Office said in a report on Wednesday.

Hospitality workers at the Big Apple were among those who suffered the most from the impact, with 46% of them being made redundant in 2020.

(With information from EFE)

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