De Blasio: ‘No more shutdowns’ as NYC faces virus spike

NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said he’s committed to keeping the city open as it grapples with yet another spike in coronavirus cases.

The Democratic mayor said Tuesday that New York can’t see schools and businesses closed again like the city did in 2020 when COVID-19 first spread widely.

De Blasio has faced questions over the past week about whether he would call for closures as a wave of new cases fueled by the omicron variant has broken over the city.

“Adamantly I feel this: No more shutdowns. We’ve been through them,” de Blasio said at a virtual news conference Tuesday. “They were devastating. We can’t go through it again.”