Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good morning, everybody. I hope everyone had a really restful and positive holiday weekend. I hope you had a chance to spend time, whether in-person, or virtually with family and friends. And really get a break from everything we've been through. And I hope that you are taking the opportunity now in the holiday season to support our small businesses, our local businesses. I had a great opportunity to go to the Strand Bookstore on Saturday and do some of our holiday shopping there. Chirlane and I went to support an amazing New York City small business. And there's so many more like it. So again, it is holiday time. People don't have as much as we had last year, obviously. And a lot of families won't be able to buy much this year, but if you are going out to do holiday shopping, please focus on those local stores. And let's help keep the money in our community. 

  

So we've talked about buying local on Saturday. Yesterday, I outlined the plan to start reopening our schools next week. Today, we are going to focus on the thing we need the most to get us through to the vaccine. And that's testing. Testing from the very beginning has been the core to every effective strategy. And testing is what we are doubling down on now in New York City. We have the highest testing capacity we've ever had since the coronavirus began. We're going to talk about how important it is to get tested and then what to do after you get tested. So look everyone in the aftermath of Thanksgiving. if you traveled and obviously, I kept discouraging people from traveling. But if you did travel, it's important to really follow the State rules now. If you went through the procedure to test out of quarantine, that meant you got a test wherever you traveled to. You're going to get another test now upon your return within the right time frame. If you go through all that, you get negative tests, that's great. You don't have to quarantine. But for everyone who doesn't do that, you do have to quarantine. And it's really important. And we take it very seriously. We're going to be constantly focusing on educating people on the importance of following the quarantine if you traveled. But there also will be consistent enforcement and consequences for anyone who doesn't follow the quarantine rules. But again, the best way to address everything is through testing. So, whether you traveled or you didn't travel, we're encouraging people to get tested. 

  

And to make it easier. We have more and more Health + Hospitals testing locations, more mobile sites that were moving around, 25 new locations opened in the last week. We're continuing to make it easier. One of the things I've heard from so many people is they really want to get tested, but they're concerned about long lines and the turnaround time for the test. Well, again at our public hospitals and clinics and mobile sites, the Health + Hospital sites have been really good about quick turnaround times and providing people great service. But we do want to address the wait time. So now H + H will be posting updates three times a day on Twitter. You can follow at @NYCHealthSystem and get updates about each site. And it will direct people to where the waits are the least. So, you can go to the place that works best for you. Also, later today, there'll be a new online tool, TestAndTrace.nyc, will give you wait time updates at 51 Health + Hospitals sites. So, you can really plan carefully where you want to go get tested. 

  

But the bottom line is get tested. There's still so many people who have never been tested or only been tested once. This is how we fight back this second wave by getting tested. Now, what happens when you get tested? Well, if you test negative, that's great. If you test positive, you get to work with the nation's largest and best Test and Trace Corps. That's going to help keep you safe, your family safe, your friends safe, everyone you came in contact with safe. And it really works. And making sure that when people do test positive, that they know how to safely separate. That is the key. But we're not just telling people, Hey, go figure it out. We're saying no, we're going to help you every step of the way. We're going to be right there with you and provide you all the support you need. And it's free. Here to talk to you about this amazing effort and how it continues to grow. And I want to thank her and her team for all they do, and thank her for leadership, the director of the Take Care of division of Test and Trace, Dr. Amanda Johnson. 

  

Director Amanda Johnson, Take Care New York: Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good morning, New Yorkers. I'm pleased to be back here to talk to you a little bit about COVID-19 and household transmission. As well as how the Take Care program can help you prevent the spread of the virus as we face the second wave. COVID-19 transmission is common in households, and it happens fast among families and roommates who are living together. As I mentioned before, emerging evidence from the CDC shows us that the vast majority of secondary infections occur within the first five days. Household transmissions will continue to be a significant factor in the spread of COVID-19 here in New York City where people live together in small spaces, and where we are going to be spending even more time indoors as we approach the colder months. At least one in five cases investigated by our own contact tracing program in recent weeks has been found to be due to household transmission. The implication of this is clear and urgent. If you have symptoms of COVID-19 or you've been exposed to someone with COVID-19, don't wait, separate. The Take Care program can help you with either a free hotel room, which includes free meals, medication delivery, and onsite clinical supports. Or the resources that you need to safely separate at home. Call 2-1-2-COVID-19 for assistance now. 

  

And in these challenging economic times, as we've mentioned before, don't let concerns about missing work be the barrier. If you test positive for COVID-19 or have been exposed, you have the right to seek paid sick leave without fearing consequences from your employer and regardless of your immigration status. Again, call 2-1-2-COVID-19 to learn more. As a city, we've done a good job. We've been wearing masks and more New Yorkers are getting tested all the time. We need to add a third step to this equation, to protect each other from the spread of COVID-19. Keep wearing your mask, continue getting tested often. And if you have symptoms or have been exposed to someone who was sick, don't wait, separate. 

  

To reach as many New Yorkers as possible, and with our simple message of don't wait, separate, we've launched a city-wide campaign, including digital broadcast and print in multiple languages. Many New Yorkers have already headed this call. To date more than 3,000 New Yorkers have been served by our hotel program. We've sent over 65,000 Take Care packages to people's homes. And our resource navigators have reached out to more than 51,000 New Yorkers who are quarantined or isolating in their homes to help them connect to resources such as food, medication delivery, including methadone delivery, medical care, and paid sick leave. We still have work to do. And it all starts with you. Remember, if you feel sick or have been exposed to someone who has COVID-19 the Take Care program urges you don't wait, separate. Thank you. 

  

Mayor: Thank you very much, Dr. Johnson. And listen to everyone. I mean, what the doctor went over is a very compassionate, kind approach to helping folks. And this is the New York way. We don't just leave people out there on their own. We're really going the extra mile to make it possible for people to get all the support they need and get through this very brief period of time when they have to separate. But here's what it's doing. We already know Test and Trace Corps has saved thousands and thousands of people from getting infected. And it's more important than ever. But what really matters is your cooperation. So again, if you feel those symptoms, if you go and get tested and it's positive, the important thing is to reach out, to get the help you need, to accept the help when it's offered, to communicate. Because Test and Trace Corps and the Take Care initiative are there to help you and make this go well so we can all turn the page and move past the coronavirus. 

  

All right, before we go to our daily indicators, just a quick update, something that New Yorkers care about a lot, and we love a lot. And it's part of our tradition, the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree. This is something that in normal years, we all go to see in-person. This year, I'm going to tell you to watch a different way. And on December 2nd, live and on television, this coming Wednesday, you're going to see the ceremony, the tree lighting. And that's the best way to see it. To feel that moment that we cherish every year when the lights go on, and it's another reminder of the beauty of the holiday season. And this is going to be a challenging holiday season in a lot of ways, but it's still going to be a beautiful one in so many ways. Because so many people care for each other and are looking out for each other and are taking that spirit of holidays and making it come alive in so many ways. So tune in on Wednesday to see the tree lit. Now that's the best way to do it. I know some people are going to still want to go in-person. And I'll tell you up front, please if you can make the decision to watch it on TV, that's so much better. But if you choose to go in-person, there's going to be a lot of specific rules in place to make it much safer than normally would be the case in a typical year. There will be a reservation system, groups of no more than four people at a time will be able to go up and view the tree. It's a timed socially distanced approach. And obviously it means it will be limited, the number of people that can get close. This is what we got to do to protect everyone. And if you want to see the wait times there'll be available at rockefellercenter.com. A different approach, but an approach that will keep people safe. And I keep saying it, I'll say it again so we can get through the next year. Next year, I look forward to so many of our traditions coming back so we can be there in-person and enjoy them the way we always have, and that we cherish. But let's stay safe this year. So everyone can get through to next year and enjoy those traditions together. 

  

Okay, let's go over our indicators. And I will say at the outset, we had lower testing levels over the last few days, meaning many fewer New Yorkers went to get tested. So some of our numbers may be skewed by that. I just want to offer that caution up front. We had a few days with much, much lower testing levels, obviously because of the holidays. We'll get a better sense in the course of this week, as testing levels return to normal. But let's go over the indicators. Number one, daily number of people admitted to New York City hospitals for suspected COVID-19, threshold 200 patients, today's report is 96 patients. Confirmed positivity level for COVID of 47.06 percent. Number two, new reported cases on a seven-day average, threshold 550 cases. Today's report 1,620 cases. And number three, percentage of the people testing positive citywide for COVID-19, threshold five percent. Again, knowing that we had some abhorrent testing levels today's report for the daily 4.69 percent, for the seven-day rolling average 4.03 percent.

EDITOR'S NOTE:

If 3 percent was used as a standard to close schools Mr. Mayor How are you reopening schools with over a 4 percent average? 

Was the closing of school not based on scientific data, so how can you change that data now?

The United Federation of Teachers is more worried that their teachers (who are more vulnerable to COVID-19) will catch COVID-19 from carrier students of the virus. 

Admit it Mayor de Blasio that you and Governor Cuomo do not know what both of you are doing.

You and the governor should postpone all special election to the June primary day as was done earlier this year by the governor.