At one time, New York City was considered the epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic. Now, the city has reported no new deaths due to COVID-19 in a 24-hour period for the first time since March 2020.
The good news was reported by the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene for Saturday, July 11. The city’s first coronavirus death was on March 11, and March 13 was the last date on which no deaths related to the virus were reported.
“It’s something that should make us hopeful, but it’s very hard to take a victory lap because we know we have so much more ahead,” New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said during a news conference on July 13. “This disease is far from beaten. And we look around the country and we look at what so many other Americans are going through and so many other states and cities hurting so bad right now. So no one can celebrate, but we can at least take a moment to appreciate that every one of you did so much to get us to this point.”
Chair of New York City Council’s Committee on Health Mark D. Levine echoed de Blasio’s sentiment of cautious optimism in a tweet:
NYC has lost 23,283 souls to this pandemic.
But for the first time since March, we lost none today.
Thank you to the healthcare workers, essential workers and everyone who made this possible.
There will be more pain and hard work ahead. But we've done something extraordinary.
— Mark D. Levine (@MarkLevineNYC) July 13, 2020
‘”NYC has lost 23,283 souls to this pandemic,” he wrote, referencing the official death count as of July 12. “But for the first time since March, we lost none today. Thank you to the healthcare workers, essential workers and everyone who made this possible. There will be more pain and hard work ahead. But we’ve done something extraordinary.”
To help continue to contain the spread of the virus, New York City has introduced new guidance, including the recommendation for residents to wear face coverings in any indoor setting that is not their home. The city has also introduced 10 new testing sites in the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. All testing sites are free and accept walk-ins.
De Blasio says he is particularly concerned about an increase in young adults aged 20-29 and will “double down” on efforts to reach them through digital media, a night of outreach action, mask giveaways and mobile testing vans.
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