NYC Mayor: Don’t Jump the Gun on Easing Virus Restrictions

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday that if governors of states such as Georgia start to ease coronavirus restrictions they had better have the facts on their side or they could enable a resurgence of the virus beyond their states’ borders.

“If some of these reopenings are done the wrong way, it’s going to affect all of us,” de Blasio said on CNN. He said that if any state or city “jumps the gun” on reopening businesses “that could lead to the disease reasserting in a lot of other places.”

The Democratic mayor announced Monday that all public events will be canceled in New York City through June.

The New York City ban, which affects major annual celebrations, was announced the same day that Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp said he would allow some businesses including gyms, hair salons and bowling alleys to reopen later this week. The Republican governor called the loosening of restrictions intended to curb the spread of the virus “the right approach at the right time.”

De Blasio was asked whether he worried that a coronavirus spike in a state such as Georgia where businesses have reopened could lead to more cases in New York City, the epicenter of the pandemic in the U.S. He cautioned that “when you open up again you’d better have the facts on your side and you’d better do it slowly or carefully and make sure it’s not coming back.”