Mayor Bill de Blasio Says New Yorkers Should Avoid ‘Big Meals Together’ as COVID-19 Cases Spike

Democratic New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city’s residents should avoid “large meals together” as the area experienced a recent uptick in coronavirus cases.

“The holidays we associate with travel and the holidays we associate with big indoor gatherings, big meals together—that, unfortunately, this year can’t be the case,” de Blasio said in a Monday press conference.

The Democrat warned that the city is “dangerously close” to seeing a “second wave” of the virus in the boroughs. De Blasio also indicated that New York City’s positivity rate has exceeded 2% in the media briefing.

“We see the presence of the coronavirus in this city and it’s trying to reassert itself,” the mayor said in the briefing. “We need to do everything in our power to stop the coronavirus from reasserting in New York City. We have to stop a second wave from happening here, it is getting dangerously close.”

“We’re seeing household transmission,” he continued. “We’re seeing community spread. We’re seeing things we have not seen in a long time—and we have to stop them.”

Residents of the city gathered en masse to celebrate numerous media outlets calling the presidential election for Joe Biden on Saturday.

The celebration continues in Times Square in New York City for Joe Biden winning the 2020 presidential election #newyork #newyorkcity #nyc #election2020 @JoeBiden #bidenharis2020 pic.twitter.com/klffnW2D4w

— Gary Hershorn (@GaryHershorn) November 7, 2020

De Blasio maintained that the biggest virus threat to the boroughs is indoor gatherings.

“But again, the key problem here is indoors and not wearing masks,” he said in the briefing. “Let’s really emphasize that if people avoid indoor gatherings and wear a mask, that’s going to be crucial to turning this around.”

The Democrat said it’s “not yet time” for broader restrictions to combat COVID-19, as the city continues to implement 25% indoor capacity limits at restaurants, according to the New York Post.

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