Coronavirus Impact: Mayor De Blasio Mulls Lockdown As NYC Cases Skyrocket

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is reportedly considering a major new step as coronavirus cases explode across the city. Speaking to CNN on Sunday, de Blasio said that all options, including a potential lockdown of the country’s biggest city, are “on the table.”

“We’ve never seen anything like this, let’s be clear,” de Blasio said. “The is a crisis that will be with us, first of all, I believe at least six months. It’s unlike anything we’ve dealt with in our memory. It’s changing every hour. We’re gonna constantly make new decisions.”

Confirmed cases of Covid-19 in New York City have skyrocketed in the last week. On Monday, there were only 25, but as of today, there have been 269 patients diagnosed. De Blasio has said that he expects the number to reach 1,000 in a matter of days.

De Blasio also criticized the federal government for its slow response to the outbreak in the U.S., which left New York City without proper coronavirus tests until recently. He urged the Trump White House to begin approaching the fight against the outbreak with a war-like mindset.

“We need the federal government to take over the supply chain right now,” de Blasio said. “Right now we have to make sure the places in this country that need more ventilators, surgical masks, they need hand sanitizers, that that is a federalized dynamic where those factories that produce those goods are put on 24/7 shifts. Right behind that is the question of food and basic supplies. If the federal government doesn’t realize this is the equivalent of war already there is no way the states and localities can make all the adjustments we need to.”