New York marked this Saturday a year since confinement measures, social distance, business closures and the end of mass tourism began to be imposed, with the city immersed in the progressive reopening with the advancement of the vaccination campaign, although fearful of the impact of the new variants.
In a display of how unpredictable the pandemic has been, on Friday, March 13, 2020, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo inaugurated the first covid-19 testing center in Westchester County and warned that the pandemic and measures to contain it could last “six months or more.”
For his part, the mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio, declared a state of emergency in the city and prohibited the crowds of more than 500 people, a number that in just a few days was reduced to zero and that today seems nonsense.
The councilor assured that his priority was to keep schools and public transport open. Two days later all classes were suspended and the first deaths from the coronavirus were announced in the city, which in just one month would become the global epicenter of the pandemic.
The use of urban transport is still well below pre-pandemic levels, largely due to the fact that the city continues to prioritize teleworking or commuting by private car.
On March 13, the then president, Donald Trump, declared a national emergency due to the pandemic, which began to release federal funds to fight the virus, which was beginning to ravage both coasts of the United States, especially in the United States. geriatric.
After the closure of the Broadway theaters, the state authorities of New York ordered the closure of all non-essential businesses and the beginning of a home confinement that was not relaxed until the arrival of summer and that was reinforced again since the fall.
This is how a year of confinement began in New York, businesses closed, limited international flights to which the end is only now beginning to be seen thanks to the extension of the vaccination campaign.
New York authorities recently announced that Broadway performances could return to the city beginning April 2, but with a 33% reduced capacity; a limit that for large Broadway productions seems very difficult to meet.
Also, in April, national travelers will no longer be required to self-quarantine at home and stadiums will be able to allow up to 500 people if they provide a negative coronavirus test or vaccination.
The restaurants of “the city that never sleeps” can already open at 35% of their capacity from the end of February and from Monday they will be able to organize events at 50% of capacity up to a limit of 150 people.
Although the vaccination campaign is progressing slowly in the districts most affected by the coronavirus, such as the Bronx, one in five New Yorkers have already received one or two injections of the vaccine and with the spring the new normal could arrive at the town.
–
