NY mayor announces shutdown plan for 9 neighborhoods, including Jewish areas

New York Mayor Bill de Blasio says he plans to put nine neighborhoods back under tight shutdown, as COVID-19 cases rise in parts of the city, which had largely controlled the pandemic after a catastrophic outbreak.

“Today, unfortunately, is not a day for celebration,” de Blasio says, announcing he will ask to close non-essential businesses and all schools in nine neighborhoods of Brooklyn and Queens.

The proposal, which must be approved by state governor Andrew Cuomo, marks a major setback for the city, since it was hit hard by the coronavirus in March. The city has lost almost 24,000 people to the virus.

Several of the nine neighborhoods have large populations of ultra-Orthodox Jews, and the virus has been spreading rapidly in that community in recent weeks.

The increases coincide with the Jewish High Holidays, the holiest days in the Jewish calendar, which culminated last Monday with Yom Kippur.

De Blasio says he intends to “rewind” the city’s reopening in the worst-affected areas, according to the New York Times.

The city is also monitoring 11 additional ZIP codes that de Blasio described as a “real concern.”

New York became the global epicenter of the pandemic in the spring. But more recently, officials had touted the lowest test positivity rate and infection rate among major US cities.

— AFP