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Outbreak, Mayor of New York: New Year's Eve events are still held as usual

author:Observer.com

【Text/Observer Network Zhang Zhaodong】

According to Fox News local time reported on December 30, Omilton is menacing, the epidemic in New York City, the United States hit a record high, but New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Thursday that the New York Times Square New Year's Eve celebrations are proceeding as planned. "We want to show the world that New York City is fighting the pandemic," he declared. It is worth mentioning that New Year's Eve is also the last day of his term.

Outbreak, Mayor of New York: New Year's Eve events are still held as usual

Screenshot of the report

According to the data notified by the New York State Government on the 30th local time, New York State added 74,207 new cases of new coronary pneumonia in a single day, a record high. In the past day, New York State tested more than 330,000 samples, with a staggering 22 percent confirmed case. The latest data from the New York Times shows that there were 40,856 new confirmed cases in New York City on the 30th.

The outbreak is even worse among unvaccinated populations in New York City. The New York City Department of Health noted that as of the week of Dec. 18, the city's unvaccinated population had a COVID-19 hospitalization rate of 97.46 per 100,000. This means that 1 in every 1,000 unvaccinated citizens in the city are currently hospitalized for COVID-19.

The pandemic is so dire that New York City Mayor Blasio made it clear on Thursday's NBC News talk show Today that this year's New York Times Square New Year's Eve celebrations won't be banned as they were last year, but will be held as planned.

Outbreak, Mayor of New York: New Year's Eve events are still held as usual

Screenshot from the official website of the New York State Government

Organizers of the New Year's Eve celebrations also tested the crystal ball that was about to land on the Chinese New Year's Eve on Thursday. It is reported that the landing of the crystal ball is a necessary ceremony for new York's Times Square every new year. The crystal ball will rise at the beginning of the New Year's Eve celebration, and when the midnight bell rings, the crystal ball will slowly fall with fireworks, New Year colored paper and a countdown to celebrate the arrival of the new year.

De Blasio said on the show: "We want to show, we are moving forward. We want to show the world that New York City is fighting the pandemic. ”

As for the impact of the Opmikharong mutant virus and the increasingly severe epidemic situation, De Blasio said: "Stopping the New Year's Eve celebration is not the solution to the problem, let people double down on vaccinations." He said New York City's high vaccination rates made the New Year's Eve celebrations possible. The data shows that about 80 percent of New York City residents have received at least one dose of covid-19 vaccine, and more than 72 percent have been fully vaccinated.

Outbreak, Mayor of New York: New Year's Eve events are still held as usual

The City of New York said that in addition to the confidence given by the high vaccination rate, a series of measures have been taken to ensure that the cross-Chinese New Year's Eve celebrations are safe. All people attending the party that day were required to show proof of vaccination and photo IDENTIFICATION and wear masks; Deshow said last week that the number of participants in the cross-Chinese New Year's Eve celebration would be reduced from 58,000 in previous years to about 15,000; the New York City Police Department also said they had taken security measures, the city's police cancelled their rest days on standby, blocked streets, and was not allowed to enter New York's Times Square until 3 p.m. that day.

"We have to send a message to the world that New York is open." Mayor Deshow said. The night of the cross-Chinese New Year's Eve was also his last moment as mayor of New York. After the New Year's bell rings and the crystal ball lands, the new mayor, Eric Adams, will be sworn in at the Times Square event.

Both Deshow and Adams, both Democrats, said at a news conference Thursday that his team was working with Blasio's team and that he planned to keep most of his predecessor's plans when he took over. "None of us can block our city anymore, we can't let the city fall further into economic despair," Adams said. ”

Outbreak, Mayor of New York: New Year's Eve events are still held as usual

The first on the left is Deslie Blanchard, and in the middle is Adams

Although the cross-Chinese New Year's Eve celebrations were pushed by two mayors, there was still no shortage of opposition within the New York City government. Mark Levine, a lawmaker who chairs the city's health committee, called for New York to cancel New Year's Eve celebrations like Cities like Rome, Paris and Tokyo, and he and some within the government fear that the celebrations could lead to super-spread.

It is reported that at present, all famous cities around the world have cancelled the New Year's Eve celebration plan. Rome and Venice canceled celebrations, Paris canceled fireworks displays on the Champs Elysées, London cut out their New Year's events in Trafalgar Square, and Tokyo canceled the world-famous New Year's Eve countdown to Shibuya Crossroads.

In the United States, cities such as Atlanta and San Francisco have also canceled their New Year celebration plans. But there are also some cities that are promoting New Year's Eve activities like New York. After Chicago canceled its New Year's Eve event last year, they will host the city's largest Ever New Year's Fireworks Show this year. In the indoor observation area of the event, participants are required to provide a vaccination certificate or a negative nucleic acid test certificate.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a news conference Wednesday: "If the event had been indoors, it would have been easier to do, it would have been cancelled long ago." But the activity is outdoors, and we're going to separate the crowds, and we're confident of reducing and mitigating (the spread of the virus). ”

Outbreak, Mayor of New York: New Year's Eve events are still held as usual

According to the statistics of Johns Hopkins University in the United States, as of 1:21 p.m. Beijing time on December 31, 2021, the cumulative number of confirmed cases of new crown pneumonia in the United States reached 54252641, and the cumulative number of deaths reached 824342. In the past day, there have been 647067 new confirmed cases and 1,409 new deaths in the United States.

The cumulative number of confirmed covid-19 cases in New York State so far is 3402190, with a cumulative death rate of 59,434. In the past 24 hours, New York State has had 71,787 new confirmed cases and 98 new deaths.

Outbreak, Mayor of New York: New Year's Eve events are still held as usual

This article is an exclusive manuscript of the Observer Network and may not be reproduced without authorization.

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