MAYOR DE BLASIO ON COVID-19 - March 23, 2019

 Mayor Bill de Blasio: Well, everyone, we’re starting out a week that we've never seen before – anything like this before. This is going to be a very challenging week, a week where we're going to get used to doing things that are absolutely unprecedented in our lives. So, I think it's safe to say that as we woke up this morning, this Monday, looked very different than any Monday we've ever experienced.

I want to talk about what we all will be doing and will need to do to make these adjustments and to deal with our new reality. But I want to talk about against the painful backdrop of this surge of this disease, the fact that we're seeing milestones in the growth of this disease that are just absolutely staggering. Things we could not have imagined even a week or two ago, we've now passed by quite a bit – 10,000 cases of coronavirus here in New York City. We are as of this morning on the verge of having lost a hundred New Yorkers for a disease that would, most of us had never heard of a few months ago – that seemed to just have the smallest presence in our city just weeks ago – it now has become the dominant reality and we're all trying to make sense of that together. But, suffice it to say that we now – all of us – fully understand what we're up against and we are taking every conceivable action as a city working with the state government and now increasingly working with the federal government, to address this crisis, to try and every way we can to slow the growth of this disease, to help everyone in need, and to get through to the day when this will be part of our history, not the reality we're living. Right now, for so many people it’s just a day-to-day adjustment trying to figure out how to live with these new rules, trying to figure out how to adapt. For so many people trying to figure out how to get the basics of life even if you aren't being paid anymore, you don't have a job anymore - so much uncertainty, so much fear, so much anxiety. That's what I hear everywhere I go.

Look, what we all have to do is help each other. But we in government particularly have to help you to understand this new reality and help you navigate it, support you through it. And so, I'll talk about some of the big picture reality, but I'll also keep coming back to the day-to-day reality; how important it is for us all to stay home to the maximum extent possible. To really understand that what we do will affect the overall situation, not just for ourselves and our families, but for everyone else. And that social distancing is so important for all of us.

I will tell you again these very painful facts about the situation. Our city right now, confirmed cases as of the last count this morning already 12,339 New Yorkers have tested positive for COVID-19. I want people to understand that at this point we're about 60 percent of the cases in New York State are here in our City. About 35 percent of the cases in the entire country are here in this City. We are the epicenter of this crisis. No one wants that distinction. Not a single one of us, but it is true that we are the epicenter of this crisis and that's why we so desperately need help, particularly from our federal government to get through it. As I said, at this, as of this moment, 99 confirmed deaths related to Coronavirus. We know more are coming and that again, those are not statistics, those are human beings, those are friends, those are our loved ones. The breakout by borough, Queens has 3,621 cases, Brooklyn 3,494, Manhattan 2,572, the Bronx 1,829 and Staten Island 817. It's a very tough time, but it is not a time for people to give-up to say the least because this fight has just begun. It is not a time for hopelessness because we finally see things starting to happen and first and foremost New Yorkers are making things happen.

I had the opportunity today to be on Roosevelt Island visiting the Coler hospital facility and there – right this minute – new hospital beds are being created right now so that we will have additional capacity to handle this surge in coronavirus cases and to make sure that everyone else who needs hospital care for other diseases and challenges will have support as well. On Roosevelt Island at Coler, 100 new beds will be available this week, 240 will be available next week. It's just one example of many to come where we're finding new ways to create hospital space for those who need it. And of course, we heard great news today about the Javits Center and so happy to say the Army Corps of Engineers working with FEMA, working with the State of New York, all of us working together, setting up a new field hospital at the Javits Center. This was something absolutely crucial and we've been pushing for the federal government to bring in everything they have, every form of support and everyone knows the great work of the Army Corps of Engineers. This will mean a thousand new beds. That's going to be extraordinarily helpful.

I want to talk about supplies as well, which are absolutely crucial. Equipment and supplies we're going to need to get through not only this crisis over many weeks, but what we need to do to get through just the next days, just the next week or two. And I do want to say on a positive note, I had a long and detailed conversation last night with President Trump and Vice President Pence. And we got into real specifics about the challenges facing New York City. I emphasized to both the President and Vice President that we particularly in our public hospitals are dealing with honestly a day-to-day reality where we have to make sure that there'll be more and more equipment and supplies coming in to deal with a surging demand of people in need. I'm very pleased to say that conversation focused on ventilators - in particular - as the single most important, most urgently needed piece of equipment. And today we received the good news that 400 ventilators from the federal stockpile are arriving now to help New York City. That's going to make a huge difference. Now, our need for ventilators is in the thousands, but we're going to fight every day to stay ahead of this curve. We're going to literally be in a race against time, so even 400 ventilators is a huge step forward to help us get through this weekend into next. So, I'm very grateful the federal government has come through with this first-step.

I also had conversations today with Peter Navarro – several conversations – who the President deployed as the individual he's going to have focusing on specific supply requests from New York City. We've talked multiple times today. We've been texting back and forth and again, the focus that I made clear Mr. Navarro is ventilators, but other supplies as well are part of his purview. And again, we see very productive actions in the course of today.

I spoke with Defense Secretary Esper about an hour ago. Continue to emphasize how much we need the military’s help here in New York City. I want to thank the Secretary for the fact that the USNS Comfort is on its way soon to New York, obviously are so appreciative for the presence of the Army Corps of Engineers, but we are going to need so much more going forward and then when New York gets through our crisis the same help is going to be needed from the military all over the nation. So, it is my hope that that military role will continue to expand in the days ahead.

When it comes to supplies, we have been amassing supplies and ensuring that they get out immediately to public and private hospitals across the city and starting today we sent out supplies around the city in total 200,000 N95 masks for our hospitals, 2 million surgical masks and 70,000 face shields. Additional help is coming from both the federal government and the State government, that includes 430,000 more surgical masks, 170,000 more N95 masks, 175,000 pairs of gloves, 98,000 face shields and 72,000 surgical gowns. So, we'll be giving regular updates, but you can see these are substantial quantities. And yet, I think everyone knows we're going to need constantly to get a supply because the number of cases will keep growing and the number of medical personnel that we're going to need will keep expanding, number of facilities will keep expanding, so these numbers represent something good, which is the flow of supplies to where they're needed, but we're going to need a lot more where that came from. And we're going to focus on getting supplies from all over the country from obviously the federal, state government, any private sources we can find, any philanthropic sources and we're going to be manufacturing our own here in New York City, cause we're going to be at this for a while. We're going to need all of that to get through.

There are some companies that have really stepped up. I think it's really important to give credit where credit is due. So, I want to thank the ASO Corporation of Florida who has sent 600,000 vinyl gloves to New York City. I want to thank American Express for putting together 36,000 N95 masks. Merck Pharmaceuticals, sending half a million surgical masks and then companies here that are stepping up to produce right here in New York City; Boyce Technologies, Bednark Studio, MakerSpace, and Adafruit, all local companies that have agreed to help us by producing tens of thousands of face shields right here in New York City. All of this is going to make a difference. Every single one of these efforts matter. And this is how we save lives to make sure these supplies are always available to our brave and heroic health care workers. So, thank you to all of these companies for stepping-up.

I want to make clear as we all get into this new reality. We all have been told, I think very, very clearly to think about the difference between what's essential and what's not essential. At this point since we passed 8:00 pm last night, non-essential businesses, non-essential activities are a part of the past and that is going to be true for weeks to come. At this point since we passed 8:00 pm last night, non-essential businesses, non-essential activities are a part of the past, and that's going to be true for weeks to come. So, non-essential businesses closed down. The things we all used to think were normal. The things we used to do for leisure and fun, the things we used to spend time and money on, we're not doing that anymore, honestly. We're doing something different now. So essential businesses are what are allowed to be opened. Grocery stores, pharmacies, food establishments that provide delivery and take out, obviously, the kinds of businesses that we are going to depend on to get through this.

And another thing we have to recognize that’ll be different. We're used to – we’re New Yorkers, we're used to crowds, we're used to lines, we're used to being close together. Not anymore. We're not going to allow crowds to form. We're not going to allow lines where people are tightly packed next to each other. We're not going to allow any indoor space to get overcrowded. We're not going to allow outdoor spaces to get overcrowded. From this point on, everyone needs to understand social distancing. Six feet apart on every side. The obvious exception is when you're with the people who live under the same roof with you. The family, whatever the composition of your family, those you live with. Obviously, that's different because you're in close proximity all the time. And if you live with someone else, and you're out on the street, just the same way as you would be living together, close together, that's fine. We understand that. But for people who you do not live under the same roof with, you're going to have to practice the social distancing and we're going to help, the city of New York, all our agencies will be there to educate people, to remind people, to warn people, sometimes to step in and help people create more separation. We're going to be doing that very, very energetically from this point on.

And we've made clear that everyone we understand who has to go out for groceries or for medicines or for a little bit of exercise or walk the dog, that's okay. But for as little time as possible. And there are some people who should not go out. And those are the folks who are the most vulnerable, the folks who really have to avoid any other contact with other people. And that means, especially outside their family obviously, and that means folks over 70 and folks with those serious preexisting conditions, medical conditions.

So now, to the question of our parks and the places that we are used to going outside. We want to get some exercise, some recreation, as Commissioner Dermot Shea, and I said yesterday, we're going to focus in the first days on education and warnings and a lot of NYPD presence and also the presence of many other city agencies, obviously the parks department included. We're going to focus, we're going to have signage out to help people understand, lots of messages that you'll hear constantly letting people know how this is going to work, and you have to practice social distancing. And that if we see people in groups, we're going to break them up. If we see a place that's too crowded, we are going to get people to disperse.

And also, I want to say to my fellow New Yorkers, this week's going to be decisive. We want to see how this is going. We're going to work with the State of New York to figure out what the law, the rules I should say, will be for the longer term. This week is our chance to test different approaches. We need to make sure people will practice social distancing in our parks and playgrounds. And if we don't think it can be done, we're going to have to come up with tougher rules. So, it really is incumbent upon all New Yorkers to do your damndest to live by this new reality.

As our officers go around monitoring and enforcing, the more we see people practicing social distancing, the more we see people avoiding crowds and really greeting some space, the more we can allow folks the opportunity to use parks and playgrounds fully. If we see that we're just not seeing enough evidence that people are getting the message, we're going to be tougher about getting that message out and more enforcement. If that's still not working, we could easily get to the point soon where we say, you know what, we're not going to be allowed to be able to allow playgrounds to be open. I don't want to do that. I don't think a lot of New Yorkers want to see that happen. But the only way we keep playgrounds open is if people really honor the rules. Don't overcrowd them. We don't need family groups mixing with each other. We don't need kids playing with kids outside of their families. I know it's strange. I know it's difficult. I really do. But this is the reality we have to make sense of. So, if everyone is tough and strong as New Yorkers are, we can find a way to strike that balance.

What will not be allowed in parks at all is any larger gatherings, and no team sports activity, which again pains me as someone who loves sports and still plays team sports. It's just not going to be possible. Team sports, pretty much in every case, involves close contact. It does not allow for social distancing. So, this has to be something that we've just let go for now. But hopefully in the months ahead we can all get back to. We're also not going to allow barbecues, which obviously are social activities. We know that's going to be tough as the weather gets warmer. But again, that's just for the duration of this immediate crisis. And then when we get through it, we can go back to normal.

So, you will see a lot of enforcement, a lot of personnel. You'll see first and foremost the NYPD that is going to make this a high priority to be present around parks and playgrounds. But you're also going to see teams from the FDNY. You're going to see teams from the Sheriff's Office, from the Office of Special Enforcement, from the Department of Buildings, you’re going to see teams from the Sanitation Department, our Community Affairs Unit here at the Mayor's Office, our Office of Neighborhood Safety at the Mayor's Office. And of course, from the Department of Parks and Recreation, you're going to see in every case a lot of presence. And please, I’m going to state the obvious to my fellow New Yorkers, when an officer asks you to move along, move along, they ask you to disperse as part of the crowd, disperse. If they remind you that you've been out exercising, and it's time to go home, go home. We really need people to recognize our officers are simply telling us what we need to do to keep safe and to stop this disease from continuing its extraordinary growth. That's the whole mission will be to keep people safe now and in the future. So, please follow the instructions of our officers.

Some other updates. And I will go through different items quickly. And then we'll hear from the chancellor, and then open up to questions from the media. You know, I've been calling on the federal government and I talked to President Trump and Vice President Pence about this last night. I've mentioned, I talked about ventilators. I talked about the need for medical personnel, including from the armed forces. We went into detail about that.

But I also talked about the situation that our public and private hospitals are facing where right now they are dealing with huge new surges of cases and it's tremendously difficult for them and it's costing them so much in human terms, but also in financial terms. Public and private hospitals need help from the federal government. Cities, towns, counties, states all have been constantly stressed over these last weeks and we'll be much more stressed in the weeks ahead. Massive new expenses, plummeting revenue. I've made very clear, we've got to have help in the legislation as being discussed right now in Washington. Hundreds of billions of dollars we need for localities and States, hundreds of billions to help our hospitals get through this everywhere in the country. I'm hoping and praying we'll see that support from the federal government. We're certainly fighting hard and I know our senators and our house delegation are as well.

But while we're hoping that some relief may be coming, the size of the deficits ahead are huge. We again, you cannot have billions of dollars in new expenses while simultaneously losing billions of dollars in revenue without having a massive problem. So, knowing that we're going to have severe challenges with our city budget, I have instructed our office of management budget to initiate a peg program immediately. That means a mandatory initiative requiring city agencies to cut their spending. This is going to be a very difficult exercise. Given the backdrop of this crisis. I want to be very clear, we will not cut spending related to COVID 19 response. If it has anything to do directly with stopping the spread of coronavirus, of course, that's where we're going to prioritize spending. That's where a lot of our new spending is. But outside of that area, every agency will be asked to help. All in different ways. But the specific goals that will be given to each agency by the office of management budget will be obligatory. We have to make these cuts in light of an ever-worsening budget situation. And I say that with no joy, but I know it is time for us to do this. Looking ahead, just weeks until the next step in our budget process, the executive budget.

Another important topic, our jails. I'll be updating New Yorkers daily on this situation. We continue to ensure that there's additional healthcare capacity for our jail population. We continue to ensure that there's ample space for any inmates who need to be isolated. One thing we have, particularly on Rikers Island, is space because our jail population is less than half of what it was six years ago, thank God. Today, through the combination of efforts by the city and the district attorney's, 75 individuals have been released from our city jails. There are more being immediately reviewed that are under state jurisdiction, but in our city jails. We'll have an update on them shortly.

In the course of this evening, I will be given results of an effort by the Department of Corrections and NYPD and our Mayor's Office for Criminal Justice to review a list of approximately 200 inmates for potential release. From that list, a number will be determined, and we will make the decision this evening on what that exact number will be and then they will be released. Whatever that specific number of inmates, those individuals will be released tomorrow. Then starting in the morning, an additional group of between 100 and 200 will be reviewed quickly. We hope to make decisions on them very quickly. But I think to be safe, I would say those decisions will come Wednesday. But this process will be ongoing. It will be constant to determine what is the right number of people and who are the right people to release, and under what conditions to make sure everyone is safe, but also to make sure we look out for the health and wellbeing of all. So, we'll have constant updates on that.

Two more points, then I'm going to just give you a quick summary in Spanish. Been a lot of questions about city services that we normally expect and city offices that are normally open and obviously a lot has been suspended, a lot’s been altered. A lot of things we depend on aren't there right now. Anything you want to check on for City services or offices to know if they're open or if they're operational, you can go to nyc.gov. Right there on the homepage, you can click into a list and see exactly what is still available and what isn't. And anytime you have a question, you can always call 311— to get a clearer picture. I want to take one moment before I close to talk directly to New Yorkers with disabilities. I know there's tremendous concern in our disability community dealing with all the unknowns everyone else is dealing with, but needing to make sure that there'll be sensitivity and concern in our City government and all the institutions of our society – that there'll be information flowing and messages that will be helpful and necessary information for the community, that everything that we do takes into account all New Yorkers, including so many fellow New Yorkers who have a disability and who needs support at this moment. The fact is we are focused on making sure that every New Yorker gets the support they need during this crisis and anyone who has a specific concern and needs help can reach out to our Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities. And I want to thank Commissioner Victor Calise and his whole team in that office who do extraordinary work all the time, but have really risen to the occasion in this crisis. Anyone who needs more information or needs help can call 311 or visit nyc.gov/disability for more information and deaf New Yorkers specifically can connect through video phone at 646-396-5830, I'll say that number again, 646-396-5830.

MAYOR DE BLASIO HOLDS ON COVID-19 - March 19, 2019

  Mayor Bill de Blasio: Good afternoon, everybody. I just want to say my fellow New Yorkers, anyone out there who's scared, anyone who is confused, anyone who feels like we're dealing with something we've never dealt with in our lives, you're right. This is in many ways the great unknown, but I'm also confident we can get through it and I'm going to talk about that in a moment. I'm confident we can overcome it. In fact, my confidence in New Yorkers, my confidence in all of the organizations in the city, the hospitals, health care providers, my confidence in the working people in New York City, and my confidence in our government couldn't be stronger. I'm going to talk honestly and bluntly about what we need from our federal government and how crucial that is in the equation.

City of New York is working constantly to protect our people, I know the State of New York's doing the same thing, and we are coordinated and share goals and strategies, but we all are waiting for federal help that still is not arriving and that is the central challenge. We have to talk bluntly about that and I will today, but to everyone who's dealing with this confusion and these challenges, I feel it. My family feels it just like you. We're all trying to make sense of a new reality. What I'm going to try and do every time I give you an update is tell you the blunt truth and I'm trying to do very hard to make sure I tell you what we exactly know and when we're not sure about something, we need to be clear about that too. It would be a mistake to tell you something certain if we're not certain, it would be a mistake to hold back things that you need to know and it certainly would be a mistake to sugar coat this very, very painful reality.

I think New Yorkers want real talk. I think New Yorkers like it straight and we're going to do that. So, I'll be talking about several things today that are really painful and troubling and I want everyone to understand that. I am not here to give you false reassurance. I have a lot of things I'll say that should cause you to be confident about what we can do in this city. Confident, particularly in the fact that we have the finest health care institutions, the finest doctors and nurses, and all the people that work in our health care facilities, the lab techs, everyone who works in our facilities. This is – there's literally no place on earth with a stronger and better health care sector than New York City. Nowhere on earth and we are going to ask of our colleagues in health care so much in these coming weeks, they are already heroes, but they're going to have to work in battlefield conditions, their strength, their courage, their resilience are all going to be needed. We're all going to be depending on them, just like we depend every day, not only on their work, but on our first responders and so many of our public servants. Everyone is going to be needed. Everyone needs to answer the call. Everyone needs to step up for the good of everyone else.

But despite my tremendous confidence in our people and our ability to serve them, I also have to be very clear about the extent of this crisis. It is unlike anything we have seen outside of wartime, with the possible exception of the Great Depression itself. It – we can make obvious and powerful painful parallels even to things like 9/11, the days and weeks after that. But this crisis is even more unknown in many ways because we don't understand the exact trajectory we're on and we know it will reach very deep into our communities. That is not a reason to be hopeless by any stretch. Because remember, every single piece of evidence we have continues to tell us that this is a disease that for 80 percent of those infected will have very little impact. So I want people to think about this. I'll tell you a lot of things that are tough and sobering, but I want you all to remember this side of the equation. There will be many New Yorkers who never get this disease and there will be many New Yorkers who get this disease, approximately 80 percent who get it and will feel very little and experience very little. But those 20 percent who experience a much tougher time with this disease, people in particular who are older and that means particularly folks over 50 and especially over 70 and it means those, of course with those serious preexisting conditions we talk about so often, lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, cancer and compromised immune system. For those people particularly at they're over 50 we're worried and we need them to take extraordinary measures. We need you to take extraordinary measures. If you're in that category of people, we need you to live differently and we need your families to adjust as well. You're going to hear from Dr. Barbot in a few minutes and she's going to talk to you as the city's doctor and give advice directly to New Yorkers in the light of a ever-growing crisis.

But I heard from a friend in Brooklyn from the Midwood community just yesterday and he said something I thought really captured it. He said, and they're very knit extended family over decades and decades of would've been unimaginable to keep his older parents away from their grandchildren. But he said, now he understands because of coronavirus and his older parents who have vulnerabilities of their own, they have to understand this is not the time to visit with their grandchildren because we just can't run that risk. It's time for getting on the phone with your loved ones. It's time for getting on FaceTime, but it's time to make adjustments that wouldn't have been imaginable in other situations, because we've never dealt with this situation before. This is literally unlike anything we have seen in our memory. It will not be the same as the 1918 flu epidemic because for one thing, the health care capacity of this city and this nation are tremendously better public health ability, the information flow, it's night and day compared to a 100 years ago. But in terms of the extent that's the only other parallel we can make in terms of recent health care history, it's going to be an epidemic, a pandemic that reaches deep into our communities. We got to be honest about that. We’ve got to make more changes in the way we live and we got to do things we wouldn't normally do.

I also want to emphasize this is a crisis that has an end point. As I said, it will play out in unpredictable ways and it'll play out for a period of time and that's what makes it different from some other things we've been through. It will go on for months, but it will not go on forever. At some point in the coming months, this crisis will start to abate and we'll be able to start the work of getting our lives back to normal and getting our city back to all the things about it that we love so much. But it will be months, so it will be a long battle. I don't think it serves anyone to be told, get ready for something easy. I think it is much better to tell people get ready for something difficult and something that'll go on for a long time, but also have confidence that we can get through it. And that's what I truly believe.

The numbers all go over with you today are nothing short of staggering, but they are not just numbers. I'll tell you the statistics that I have trouble even conceiving of myself, but I don't want you to think of them as statistics. I want you to think of them as your fellow New Yorkers, every number means another person has been affected by this disease and another family and that's what I feel watching a crisis that is really, really affecting the lives or our people, and putting a lot of people in danger. So, I'll tell you the honest truth and I'll go out of my way in the weeks ahead to always level with you. But I'll also tell you what we can do. And that's a lot. And I will be very honest about what we need our federal government to do because I have to be clear with you. We alone, even if we're the greatest city in the world and we are, we alone cannot solve this crisis. And I need people to hear that, not to create fear, but to level with people.

In the next few weeks with the extraordinary resources, New York City, we will fight this battle no matter what. But as we get into April, the farther we get into April, the more we will need the help of the federal government. It must arrive in time and there is time for that help to arrive but the federal government does not do all in its power immediately. It's as simple as this. There'll be a lot more people who get sick who didn't need to get sick and there'll be people who die who didn't need to die. It's as simple as that. So, we need to act now, and I know our federal government has the capacity. We have the finest military in the world, the largest by far, extraordinary resources, unlike the City or the State. And I always say it very bluntly, the federal government literally prints money. They can create any credit line they want to save the lives of Americans, but we're not seeing that, not even close at this point. So, I'll go into some very specific information now and then you'll hear from Dr. Barbot and then we'll open up to questions from the media and we'll be doing all of this remotely. It's the first time we're doing it. I want to just say to all my colleagues in the media, we'll try and get it right, but it may be a little difficult the first time, but please bear with us as we try and perfect this new system. This is something we'll be having to do for quite a while to keep everyone safe.

I've given you a framework to think about this situation with - and I'll be updating you regularly, but again, it will not be all bad news. It often will be tough information to hear, but not all this bad because in the middle of this fight we have the extraordinary heart and soul and spirit of New Yorkers and here's an example for you. Just on Tuesday I put out a call to retired health care workers and those who work in private health care offices to come forward and join up to serve in the fight against coronavirus. I ask people who have already given so much of their lives to others to step forward and to come out of retirement. I asked people who are earning a living and are not obligated to join public service and I asked them to join nonetheless in the name of all New Yorkers. That was Tuesday. Today, Thursday as of today, 1,746 health care professionals have stepped forward to augment the ranks of those already serving at the front line in our hospitals and clinics. That's something all new Yorkers should be very, very proud of and I am certain those numbers will grow.

This is going to be one of the most difficult moments in New York City history. I ask everyone who has health care training and who can help us to please step forward now and anyone who's willing to volunteer, please go to nyc.gov/helpnownyc, nyc.gov/helpnownyc, H-E-L-P-N-O-W-NYC. And I want to express my tremendous gratitude on behalf of 8.6 million New Yorkers, to all of you who have come forward and are ready to serve to protect all of us and what you are seeing from those retired health care workers and those private sector and health care workers you're seeing in many other ways. The extraordinary efforts of our colleagues in our public hospitals and clinics and all of those at the voluntary hospitals who are already doing so much. Our first responders, the envy of the nation, all that they are doing to protect us. Our social service workers who are helping people through all of the challenges they're confronting now. Our sanitation workers who are doing absolute crucial work to keep the city clean while we encounter a health care crisis.

On Monday, I talked about a very, valiant, noble group of workers. School cleaners and custodians and food service workers who went to school to make sure kids had meals even though school was not in session. Those workers showed up at their post to help our children and have enough food to eat. I want to thank our school safety agents and food service managers, including members of Teamsters 237 who have answered the call, stood up to help our children and those families who need food. I want to thank our school crossing guards who have been protecting our children who went to get food. We're going to keep talking from now on about all those who are standing up, unafraid, willing to fight, willing to help others. And I say unafraid, that's not to say they're not human beings, they're not worried like the rest of us, but I say unafraid because they showed up, they stood up, they did the right thing to help others and I thank all of you for that.

Again, all I ask of our federal government is to be as good as the people of the United States of America. Look at these everyday New Yorkers that I've mentioned to you and these are just the health care professionals and the public service workers who are all at their posts doing what is needed. There are thousands of stories every day and New Yorkers helping each other out. I've called on New Yorkers to help the people in your lives, your family, your neighbors, those you worship with, the folks that live on your block or in your building who might be disabled, might have a serious health condition or seniors who can't get around so well, to help them out. Help them with their groceries, help them get the medicines they need. We've been getting wonderful stories from all over the city, New Yorkers stepping up, making things happen right there where the need is greatest. There's so many people helping each other right now. Again, I've just asked our federal government to do its job, help all of us, and that's eventually going to be this whole country. It's New York City today. It's places like Seattle, but we certainly saw what happened in Westchester County. We see other places developing around the country, but make no mistake, it'll eventually be everywhere. So our federal government needs to right now go where the need is greatest and there is no place where the need is greatest in New York State and New York City.

Of course, I am heartened that the Congress passed an initial relief bill, but initial is the key word. It is a small beginning. It's far from what we need. I never look a gift horse in the mouth, but I can say with assurance that the first step taken by the Congress is just a small first step and we need a huge stimulus and relief bill immediately that puts money back in the pockets of people who have lost so much. It helps local governments to keep going and doing the work we do and it really, it responds to the reality on the ground, particularly in providing health care for so many people so quickly. Right now, the United States government is not even close to where it needs to be, but I do thank the House and the Senate for the action they took. I am very thankful to the United States military for sending the ship that we've all been waiting for, the USNS Comfort with just a 1,000-bed floating hospital. And will be crucial to our efforts in this city and state to protect people. 

The military, as I've said, I have no doubt in my mind stands ready to do all necessary to help their fellow Americans. I just wish they would get the order and they have not gotten that order.

President Trump, I will only say to the President, I don't understand and I think there are millions and tens of millions of Americans who don't understand what you are doing right now. You are not using the tools of your office. This is one of the greatest emergencies our nation has faced in generations. Every tool must be brought to bear. For some reason, you continue to hesitate. I said it not to be flip, but to note the historical parallel. President Trump right now, you are the Herbert Hoover of your generation. You are watching and waiting and missing every chance to be bold and to act to protect our nation.

Herbert Hoover, his successor, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, determined that our nation needed urgent and immediate action and created the New Deal and transformed the effort to help our people and saved our country, literally. President Trump is not doing that now for reasons that are absolutely inexplicably to the vast majority of us. But there is still time, not much, but there's still time. The President yesterday invoked the Defense Production Act. I have no idea why the President waited until March 18th to invoke the Defense Production Act, which has been used repeatedly in recent decades. Seems to me, given what we knew about this crisis, given that the City of New York held his first press conference to announce our steps on coronavirus on January 24th, I think the President could have invoked the Defense Production Act in February or even January. 

But he's finally done it and we know the history that that authorization allows for massive actions by the federal government to ensure that companies are producing needed goods and that they get to where they're needed most. However, the President has not ordered any of those subsequent actions, and this must change immediately. Through the Defense Production Act, the President can authorize the Department of Health and Human Services to order manufacturers to provide materials and services and to use their private facilities for manufacturing needed items. That has not happened. We have not seen the order from the President ensuring maximum 24/7 production of all items needed by our health care industry. And I would say it very plainly, every factory in America that can be converted to health care production, to the equipment and supplies that our valiant health care professionals need and they will need even more in the coming months. Every such factory should be ordered on a full production basis, on a level prioritized by the federal government. 

And then those goods must be distributed and it cannot be distributed in a business as usual manner because as I said here in New York City, we are two weeks or three weeks away from running out of the supplies we need most for our hospitals. The only way those supplies can be provided in time, is through the full mobilization of the United States military. At this point, there's never been a greater no-brainer in the history of the Republic. How on Earth is the finest military on Earth being left on the sidelines? That's what's happening right now and I guarantee you go interview our generals and our brave men and women who serve in the military, go interview the average American soldier and ask them if they stand ready to get the supplies needed to New York City and the other parts of this nation that are in such danger right now. I guarantee you two a one, they would tell you that is exactly why they are a part of our armed forces and they would not only await the order, they would welcome the order. But that order has not been given by our Commander-in-Chief and it is beyond comprehension. It is immoral that our President has not ordered our military to full mobilization because this is the great threat to our nation.

We have armed forces overseas who are protecting us against terrorism and foreign threats, but right now we have a domestic threat on a level we have never seen in decades. Our military is the only answer at this point. And if we expect those goods that are produced that we need for our hospitals to get there in time, there's only one organization that can guarantee that. And that is the United States military. When will President Trump give the order? That is my question. When will he give the order? Why is he hesitating? People are suffering now and they will be suffering so much more in the month of April. And the President gives himself an A grade and he congratulates himself and yet he will not act in the way we need it most. This is patently unacceptable.

Our military also, in addition to their extraordinary logistical capacity, our military has the ability to bring exceptional medical personnel directly to where the need is greatest. Our health care leadership here in the city has made clear that supplies and medical equipment are a deep concern. Physical capacity to build out an extraordinary amount of new health care abilities and beds is crucial. But the single most important factor is personnel. We're going to need all the people I've spoken about previously to do all they can do, but they can't do it alone. In our military, our extraordinary trained professionals are used to dealing with the most difficult circumstances and yet they are at their basis right now, all over this country. They are not at the front. The front is here in New York City. Let's be very clear. This is a different kind of war and the front is right here in New York City. How on Earth are some of the finest medical professionals in this nation who serve this nation, why have they not been activated and sent to New York City and New York State and California and Washington State where they could be helping right now? We need them. We need everything that the military can bring to bear.

I've sent two letters this week and I'll be sending many more. Trying to get action and letters are just a way of making a hundred percent clear what we're talking about. This letter to Secretary Alex Azar, Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Secretary Robert Wilkie, Department of Veterans Affairs. This lays out very clearly our request that the Veterans Administration facilities in this city, all available beds, all available medical personnel in our Veterans Administration facilities be activated immediately to serve in the cause of fighting the coronavirus. We know for a fact that our Veterans Administration facilities have excess capacity and we know we're in the middle of a national crisis. I know again that the medical personnel in these facilities stand ready to help, but they need the order from these two secretaries so they can provide maximum support to New York City. And the same would be true everywhere in the country. I sent this letter to Secretary Azar of HHS delineating the supply requests again. And this is one of many requests we've made, but I'm doing it very publicly. We'll put this online for everyone to see. Here are the supplies that must be provided to New York City early in April for us to ensure that our health care system, public and private, can bear the brunt of the coronavirus crisis, and serve our people. We need three million N95 masks. We need 50 million surgical masks. We need 15,000 ventilators and 25 million each of the following items of personnel protective equipment, which are health care workers and first responders would use depending on the situation — surgical gowns, coveralls, gloves, face masks. We need these in great numbers. They may sound like daunting numbers at first, but given the extraordinary production capacity of this country, they are very much achievable. If our nation has put on a war footing and our President uses the powers he already has to coordinate and to prioritize through the private sector, the production we need. That's the kind of level of production we need, those specific supplies. We need to ensure that health care in New York City can continue on the level we need to fight this crisis. 

Our Senator – our senior Senator, Chuck Schumer, has put forth a powerful idea. He calls it a new Marshall Plan. It’s a Marshall Plan for our hospitals and I give him credit for this because he's using one of the great examples in American history, the Marshall Plan after World War II, which rebuilt, literally rebuilt the European continent that had been left in ruins after the war and re-established a thriving economy. The Marshall Plan, the original Marshall Plan made the United States the envy of the world and created tremendous gratitude for our nation all over the globe. And that was at a time when we had a lot less technology and many disadvantages just having come out of war ourselves. Senator Schumer's right, that's the right attitude, the right approach. A Marshall Plan for our hospitals for the entire nation would involve massive new investments to support state and local governments that already are doing so much to fight coronavirus. And that are struggling with the challenge in so many ways, to strengthen and build out our health care workforce. It would involve major investments in our strategic national stockpile and our Centers for Disease Control and it would allow for the large-scale infrastructure we need to fight this extended war. So, I want to thank Senator Schumer and I ask all the members of the House and Senate to include Senator Schumer's plan in the upcoming legislation you pass.

Now to the part of this update that I hate to give but I need to about the overall situation. And I will say we will attempt to give New Yorkers constant updates including ones we wish we didn't have to give and anyone who needs an update can go to nyc.gov/coronavirus. Anyone who needs specific information or has specific needs of course, can also call 3-1-1. We are seeing an explosion in the number of cases here in New York City. Now I will be clear that part of that is that we finally have more extensive testing going on. We have nowhere near the amount of testing that we should ideally have. We have nowhere near the amount of testing we should have had weeks and weeks ago to get ahead of this crisis. Nowhere near the amount of testing that a place like South Korea had. And they were able to use testing as a powerful part of a strategy to beat back the coronavirus. We're still far from where we should be, but we have a lot more testing than we used to have. And so it is natural that as you have more testing you will see numbers grow simply because the larger reality is being captured more effectively. But this number is nonetheless very, very painful. I'll tell you that the City of New York will be every day at 10:00 am and again at 6:00 pm putting together our numbers and providing updates as we are ready once they are confirmed. 

So, based on the update from 10:00 am today, which is different from the State’s update, which came from last night at midnight. So, this is, again, a different number than the State, the State had for the city — different number because it is a 10 hours difference. And this'll show you how fast this crisis is growing. At this point in New York City, based on a 10:00 am number 3,615 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in New York City. Again, each of those, a human being and a family represented and that number is undoubtedly gone up since 10:00 am. It's a painful, distressing number. I also have to report another even more painful number. There have been 22 deaths now in New York City directly related to the coronavirus. The breakout by borough — in Queens 980 cases, in Manhattan 976 cases, in Brooklyn 1,030 cases, in the Bronx 463 cases, in Staten Island 165 cases. I'm going to go through some specific issues before I turn to Dr. Barbot and I'll go quick here.

Unfortunately, we can report that we have the first instance of an inmate on Rikers Island testing positive. The inmate is individually in his early thirties. And thankfully at this moment health wise is doing okay. Is in isolation and has been moved to our communicable disease unit on Rikers Island, part of the health care apparatus on Rikers Island. This inmate was in a housing unit with other inmates. All had been checked for symptoms. Eight had been identified with symptoms and moved also to isolation in the communicable disease unit. Question came up several times last few days about those incarcerated and if there were instances where anyone should be released because of particular health vulnerabilities and because their status put them at low risk of re-offending or being any kind of threat. At this point this is an ongoing effort, it will keep growing as we review more cases, the cases are being reviewed by the NYPD and the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and as they reach agreement on an individual case, we start the process to release them. Forty inmates, forty inmates have been put on the list. We are awaiting sign-off - depending on the case - from the relevant District Attorney and/or the State of New York and we intend to begin releases as early as today once we have that sign-off, we will continue reviewing other cases.

An update on testing availability. As we said a few days ago, the health and hospital system has greatly increased its testing capacity. They're now 10 new sites at hospitals and these sites will have the ability to serve approximately 150 people per day. Eight, again, I'm going to emphasize throughout, I know we're going to get this question constantly and we'll keep reiterating - on a priority basis, on a reservation basis, until we have much, much greater testing capacity everything must be focused on those in greatest need and everything will be done on reservation basis. People that walk-up or drive-up without a reservation cannot be tested. We have to keep the priorities tight here, but we keep, we keep working every day to try and expand the amount of testing to reach as far as we can.

The 10 sites, again, will serve 150 people per day – approximately - initially. Again, in every case, we'll look to increase the numbers as much as we can. Eight are already open at Bellevue, Elmhurst, Harlem, Jacoby, Kings, Lincoln, Woodhall, and Queens hospitals. Two will open next week at Coney Island and Jacoby. There are seven new sites at Gotham clinics. Each can serve and test 50 to 75 people per day. All will be open this week and they include Belvis, Cumberland, East New York, Gouverneur, Morrisania, Sydenham, and Vanderbilt.  Four new testing centers each will serve and test 100 people per day, approximately two are open at Coney Island and Jacoby, two coming up shortly at Kings County and Queens Hospital.

This is all separate from the State operated drive-through testing center in Staten Island and separate from the five new testing centers that are coming soon in coordination with FEMA that will be set-up in New York City. We'll have details on that as they get solidified. All appointment only, all prioritizing of the sickest and most vulnerable, remembering that 80% of all coronavirus cases will be mild – thank God for those who have them. And again, if you are younger than 50 and you don't have a preexisting condition, those are exactly the people who are coming through overwhelmingly pretty well through this challenge and we want those people – especially - if you get sick to stay home and wait three or four days to see if your symptoms get better or worse. Only if they get worse do you call the doctor at that point.

In terms of our businesses, I want to thank all the restaurant owners, bar owners, cafe owners, all the people work there. You've been put through so much these last days. I'm sorry for that, but this was something that had to be done for the good of the people in New York City. But there have been so many great instances of people who own these establishments working with the new rules, keeping those takeout and delivery options going, trying to take care of their workers and we understand what a strain that is. We understand there've been real layoffs and it's very, very sad, but thank you for everything you're trying to do to keep getting people food that need it and keep your businesses alive to the best of your ability.

I want a note for all those who doubted the ability of New Yorkers to deal with this new dynamic. Over the last few days, we have sent out the NYPD, the FDNY, Department of Buildings, and the Sheriff's office to enforce, to ensure that restaurants and bars that serve food were closing at the appropriate hour, that they were not allowing customers to dine-in. We have seen overwhelming compliance by those who own and work in these establishments. There have been as of yesterday I believe this number is 8,150 inspections that yielded only six violations. That's about as close to perfect as it gets in human life and I really want to thank everyone and thank these inspectors who are doing such important work to ensure everyone's safe by avoiding the social distancing that goes with what we used to know as social life only a few days ago. That helping people not continue the habits we used to have that unfortunately only led to the spread of this disease - these inspectors are doing such important work, I want to thank them all.

On telecommuting, the State issued the new guidance, which I approve of 100 percent, taking 75 percent the number of workers who should be out of their offices even for those businesses that continue in their physical locations. We are working with the State on a proper enforcement mechanism. To everyone, if you still are not yet telecommuting, you must, it's as simple as that, and we need every employer to understand that. And any employee who still has to go to a work site and is not an essential employee, please, if you have an idea of how you could telecommute or some alternative talk to your employer, we need people to be creative here. Anyone who believes that there is a problem with their work site that can be addressed call 311 and we will try and help. Our Department of Consumer and Worker Protection or our Commission on Human Rights can step in if someone is being kept at a work site that does not need to be and is a non-essential worker. We want to make sure that employers really get the message that everyone needs to be home who can be home.

And as to the city workforce, which is about 380,000 strong when you factor in all elements of the public sector at the city level. By Sunday, all nonessential personnel across all of our agencies will be working from home in some form or fashion or will be waiting for a specific assignment. Many of course can do telework. Some we're going to come up with a new way for them to work at home even if it doesn't exist right now. Some may be mobilized to address a food issues or other issues at the community level. The estimate at this point, and we'll have a better number for you by the beginning of next week, but the estimate is 250,000 city workers will be out of their traditional work sites and working from home unless they are given a very specific assignment in the field. As part of fighting this crisis that is approximately two thirds, two thirds of our workforce that no longer are working – or no longer will be working at their traditional work sites. You're going to see a lot of city offices are just shut down because we came up with an alternative and for all city workers with symptoms of coronavirus. As you're going through those three or four days waiting to see if you get better or worse as you're going through this entire process, we will not— take away sick time for anyone who has symptoms and is waiting for clarity about this disease. We will not— take that off your sick days.

Few last points, questions early in the week about food stamps and public assistance. Want to clarify; there are no more in person interviews for food stamps or public assistance. All of that has been converted to online and – phone interviews and processing. Very specific issue, this is something I have to say to people, and it's painful to say it, but I've gotten concerns raised by community leaders. We understand that people at this point cannot in general go to their house of worship. We understand how painful that is for people of all different faiths, what a pillar of their lives, their faith is, and how important their visit each week or more often to their house of worship is. But we are in a moment of tremendous danger and we have to deal with that reality. We have to protect each other. So, I know that clergy all over this city, and I've talked to clergy leaders. I had a call with members of our clergy leadership just a few days ago and there were unified across all faiths, led by Cardinal Dolan unified in recognizing that many, many people will have to forego traditional religious services and clergy had been leading the way and telling people to stay home who need to stay home and then reducing services or closing them down altogether where needed. But what we have heard in some communities is that in the absence of traditional services, some individuals are choosing to create home-based worship services. That per se might not be a danger except when it means in so many cases that large numbers of congregants are being crammed into a very small space, which immediately violates the concept of social distancing. The rule is to try and keep six feet apart or as close to that as humanly possible. Worshiping in a living room with numerous people immediately violates that idea and makes everyone vulnerable. I think something that unites all faiths is the desire to protect each other, uplift each other, respect each other. It is not helpful. It is not safe. It is not faithful to gather large numbers of people in a small space for informal services that would only serve to cause this disease to spread and you know who will then be in danger. Our seniors and those who already are dealing with serious healthcare conditions, I don't think there's any faith on earth that would condone that. So, please, to all of you who are doing this or considering doing it, please stop. Simply forego traditional services don't try and recreate them, if you feel you must do a service that needs to be just a small handful of people, socially distance, six feet per person apart or else you're creating a risk to all those involved.

Close with a reminder, thank God we see that for younger, healthier people, this is a disease that they can see through – and come out safely, overwhelmingly. So, let's keep the focus on those in need those who are most vulnerable and let's help them out. Anytime you can help your fellow New Yorker in need, I know a lot of people have been stocking up on groceries and all sorts of household goods. If you know someone who needs help, come on, don't keep it all for yourself. Share with your fellow New Yorker, that's how we're going to get through this. This will get worse before it gets better, we've all heard that phrase, but this is probably the most blunt example we're going to see in our lives of the notion that this is going to get worse before it gets better. We have to brace ourselves for that, but it will get better, it will get better in the end, and we will see it through

MAYOR DE BLASIO HOLDS ON COVID-19 March 17, 2019

  Mayor Bill de Blasio: Welcome everybody again, we'll start with this and we probably are going to go to a calling system soon for obvious reasons. But for now, we are here and I have a number of updates to share. Let me start by saying, of course there was a lot of new information every day that's sobering – thank you – and troubling. But there's also a lot of people stepping up, a lot of people helping out a lot of people really coming to the defense of New York City and the people of New York City. And so, there is some good news and I'm happy to announce one piece of good news as we fight this virus and this challenge. Last night, Health + Hospitals, our public health care system reached an agreement with BioReference Libraries and BioReference Libraries, one of the largest testing companies in America.

This is an example of a real public private partnership at a time of tremendous need. This agreement will allow our public healthcare system to ensure that up to 5,000 coronavirus tests per day can be done. I want to say that again. We will have the capacity in our public health system, just our public hospitals and clinics to perform up to 5,000 coronavirus test per day. That capacity will start to come online on Thursday, it will ramp up in the coming days until we reach that daily total. This is a huge increase in testing capacity for the City of New York as a whole and specifically for Health + Hospitals. You're going to hear a little later on from Dr. John Cohen, who is someone I've known for a very long time and have tremendous admiration for the Executive Chairman of BioReference laboratories. I want to thank you Dr. Cohen and your whole team for working so fast and so effectively with our team to come to an agreement and to put this testing capacity online.

So, I'll give a number of other updates and then you'll hear directly from Dr. Cohen and we will start the Q&A with questions specifically about testing and this agreement before we go to other matters related to coronavirus. Once the testing capacity is up, starting on Thursday, the tests can be processed in one to two days. So that's a strong turnaround time, and the focus will be, and we'll say this throughout on those who are currently hospitalized and who are medically in danger and those who are, in general, the most vulnerable, but we're going to be very careful about the prioritization of these tests. Even with this substantial new capacity, this will be a highly prioritized approach to testing. I want people to be very clear that our healthcare professionals are determining those priorities and we're going to stick to those priorities to ensure we can help those who truly need the testing most and to protect our entire healthcare system.

So, want that to be clear. We'll clarify more as we go through the Q-and-A. We're going to – I'm going to say, and I know my health care colleagues are going to say many reminders throughout this press conference that the guidance remains for those who are sick with the cold and flu type symptoms and only have mild or moderate symptoms. The guidance is to stay home, do not go to the emergency room or a clinic, and remember that there are those who are immediately in real danger, who need those facilities to be available to them. The goal for everyone is wait three or four days, if your symptoms improve, then you're good, if they don't or get worse, that's when you need to contact first by phone your healthcare provider. And this has evolved over the last few weeks as this crisis has deepens. So, this is what we need people to do. If you're sick, stay home, do not go to work, do not go out, do not come in contact with other people and then give it three or four days to see if it develops further. So, that's about the announcement today of the 5,000 test per day capacity going to Health + Hospitals.

I want to go to another update, very different one, but very much about how we have going forward, how we’ll have the capacity, the medical capacity and all the capacity, logistical support that we need to protect New Yorkers in a growing crisis. About an hour ago, I spoke with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the United States armed forces General Mark Milley. We had a detailed conversation about the capacity that the armed forces could bring to bear to address a crisis like coronavirus and we went over details in terms of different options of what the military might be able to provide. I want to thank General Milley for his willingness to provide assistance and it is quite clear that our military in a high state of readiness and we agreed to continue to communicate and to work closely. So very, very much appreciate the update that I received from General Milley. And even though we are waiting for a lot to happen particularly decision making in Washington to happen it is comforting, it is definitely comforting to hear of the extraordinary capacity of the United States military and that the military isn't a high state of readiness to be able to provide support to not only New York, but other parts of the country as well.

Now, I want to talk about a question that's on everybody's mind, and that is the issue of shelter in place. This is a reality that is being talked about because this crisis continues to grow. We are all deeply concerned about the direction and the trajectory even as we get new information daily and hourly and we're trying to better understand the specific trajectory. It's quite clear this is a fast-growing crisis. In my view, I think the right guidance to give all New Yorkers is, even though a decision has not yet been made by the City or by the State, I think New Yorkers should be prepared right now for the possibility of a shelter in place order. It has not happened yet, but it is definitely a possibility at this point. I believe that decisions should be made in the next 48 hours and it's a very, very difficult decision.

I want to emphasize that it is difficult anywhere in the United States of America. It is particularly difficult in a city with such a large population so densely populated together. But I think the point is come with that decision does have to be made. We will be communicating closely with the State. Obviously, it’s a decision we want to make in common. And I think it's just right to let people know that there is that possibility. To be clear, if that moment came, there are tremendously substantial challenges that would have to be met. And I don't take this lightly at all. Folks have to understand that, right now, with so many New Yorkers losing employment, losing paychecks, dealing with all sorts of stresses and strains, I'm hearing constantly from people who are tremendously worried about how they're going to make ends meet. And that scenario a shelter in place begs a lot of questions. What is going to happen with folks who have no money? How are they going to get food? How are they going to get medicines? How are we going to ensure in a dynamic like that, that supplies are sufficient for our population? What role does the government need to play to ensure that the proper distribution occurs and no one gets left out? There's a lot of unanswered questions and I dare say those are particularly difficult in a City as large as New York City, but I believe we have to quickly come to grips with those questions and determine different contingency plans while deciding if this is the right strategy to move forward with.

And that statement obviously connects with the update on the number of confirmed cases. Now we have information that is updated since the Governors earlier press conference today and you will see you that the numbers continue to grow rapidly. So as of this hour, and this is again our two hour changes now, as of this hour, the number of confirmed cases in New York City is 814, the sad reality, the prediction I made last week that we would hit a thousand cases this week is obviously about to come true and I'm very sorry to say that. Now, the borough breakdown I will give you now I believe, I think we can confirm this is directly connected to that 814 number. So, the borough breakdown as of this point 248 cases in Queens, 277 cases in Manhattan, 157 cases in Brooklyn, 96 cases in the Bronx, and 36 cases in Staten Island. And again, very sorry to say we have lost seven of our fellow New Yorkers to coronavirus.

We will need quickly support from the federal government. Everything I've talked about so far keeps coming back to the federal government. There's more of the federal government can do to help us expand testing. There is obviously much to the federal government could do to ensure that the military is brought to bear to the fullest extent to help New York City and other areas that have been hard hit by the coronavirus. There is so much the federal government can do to ensure that people have income. Right now, although there are some promising elements of the stimulus bill, there is nowhere near the kind of income replacement that people need in this kind of crisis. I mentioned earlier today the parallel to the new deal. We've got a crisis on the scale, obviously, on the trajectory of both the epidemic we saw in 1918, not the exact health trajectory that, as Dr. Cohen and I were discussing earlier, there was a lot less health care available to New York – I mean, to New Yorkers and Americans in general a century ago. But in terms of the sheer reach of this disease, the only parallel will be the 1918 influenza epidemic.

In terms of the economic dislocation, I think it's fair to say we are going to quickly surpass anything we saw in the Great Recession, and the only measure, the only comparison will be the Great Depression. Hopefully not as bad an overall impact, but I think in terms of the sheer reach, again, that will be the only comparison in the Great Depression. The federal government focused on creating jobs to put money in people's pockets. We can't do that now because there won't be scenarios where people can work in congregate settings. There's so many ways we cannot repeat the model of the Great Depression and the New Deal. It's going to take direct income support on a vast scale. And I have said very clearly, the federal government found a way to come up with vast amounts of money to bail out the banking industry a few years ago, to bail out the auto industry, vast amounts of money for a tax cut for the wealthy and corporations, even vaster amounts of money for endless wars that have yielded little for the people of this country. Clearly, the federal government knows how to spend money quickly and on a huge scale. It should be spent on the American people right now, working people who are suffering. They don't have that income replacement. They will not be able to afford food and medicine and the basics. We are sending today additional requests and there's been a nonstop stream of requests to the federal government.

Three letters going out today, one to the veterans administration and to HHS requesting that unused beds in veterans administration hospitals in New York City be freed up for the battle against coronavirus and requesting that medical supplies be expedited and delivered to New York City, including surgical masks of all the different kinds, surgical gowns, all the elements we need to protect our health care workers and allow them to do their work.

Sending out an additional letter to Secretary Azar, HHS, on specific medical supplies that had been provided, but are insufficient uh in previous shipments we've received. And we're sending a letter to the leadership of the United States House of Representative and the United States Senate imploring them to use their power to ensure that the military will be activated in this crisis and that aid will reach New York City and other parts of the country.

Some quick additional updates and announcements. In terms of food provided through our schools this week – this week, as we've said, all schools will be providing breakfast and lunch grab and go options at each school. Next week we will be opening up an enrichment centers, learning centers for uh children of essential workers that'll be providing breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We are also determining a methodology to provide breakfast, lunch, and dinner at additional pickup sites around the five boroughs for young people who need them. This will not, at this moment, be at every school. This will be a more concentrated approach, not exactly what we do during summer, but closer to that then to every school building. But there will be ongoing sources of food for students that who need them in a new form starting next week.

I'm going to go through different items. They don't necessarily all connect, but they're all pertinent. There's been questions previous last few days about our budget process update that we intend to continue the city budget process on schedule, according to the law, and our office of management and budget is continuing to do its work to prepare the budget on time. And you should know that the office of management and budget is working remotely already.

An update related to for-hire vehicles, and for this one I will be signing an executive order right now for for-hire vehicles. We want to protect drivers and we want to protect riders alike. This executive order will ban a ride shares and a pooling of customers. This has been done in agreement with a major for hire vehicle companies such as Uber, Lyft, and Via. And the rule will be a one individual customer per vehicle to of course create social distancing as best possible within the vehicle. This does not disallow a couple that is together already, and actually a real couple. I want to be clear with people, a married couple, for example, or people who live together, or a family that lives under the same roof. Those folks obviously have had deep exposure to each other. It's appropriate for them to share a vehicle but not people who don't know each other. So, we will formalize that now in this executive order.

Related to the health and human services field, we have a huge number of nonprofit workers who play a crucial role in providing health and human services to New Yorkers. They're almost 40,000 nonprofit workers who've been under contract with us. A vast majority right now are in a situation – or, I should not say a vast majority – a very large number of them are in a situation right now where their work places may be closed, but their work is still crucial and we have a variety of things we need them to do. So, for approximately uh 40,000 nonprofit workers already working under contract with New York city, we will designate them as essential workers.

Next topic is, one, there's been a tremendous amount of interest in alternate side parking. Starting tomorrow, Wednesday, March 18th and continuing through Tuesday, March 24th, we will suspend alternate side parking. This is for one week, for seven days. This will give us an opportunity to evaluate the impact and see if it's something we want to do on a longer term basis. I want to just to help all New Yorkers to know, these are discussions we have all day long trying to make the right decisions, doing it for a week to see how it goes, makes all the sense in the world. Doing it throughout a crisis that could easily reach months upon months is a bigger question mark because what our Sanitation Department does related to alternate side parking is actually to keep our streets clean, keep our neighborhoods clean. There is a real connection between clean streets, clean neighborhoods, and overall health care. So, we have to be smart about keeping the city as clean and sanitary as possible. But let's do this first suspension, see how it goes. We'll update you as it gets close to next Tuesday on what we're going to do next. But again, alternate side parking suspended tomorrow through, all day tomorrow, and all the way through Tuesday, March 24th, and then we'll get you an update.

In terms of the criminal justice system, there've been some very fair and important questions about what is going to be done differently. First of all, anyone who is arrested and has flu like symptoms uh will not be taken to a precinct, will not be taken to central booking. There will be a specific methodology limiting their contact with our first responders and using a video conference system uh to immediately provide for the workings of the criminal justice system and our first responders being trained in how to appropriately handle that kind of circumstance. That's if they have those symptoms.

Now, another question has been about the number of people in jail and will there be some alterations. We are evaluating right now working with the Mayor's Office of Criminal Justice and the NYPD, the number of people in our jail system who might be particularly high-risk in terms of vulnerability to the virus and another category of people – those who are incarcerated but are at low-risk of re-offending. We're going to evaluate those numbers and the details and determine if case-by-case any of those individuals should be taken out of our jail system. We don't have a final decision or final numbers, but that evaluation is happening today.

Question came up about business taxes. Here is the instruction – everyone, business owners – everyone should file their taxes on time as normal. We understand some people have obviously a hardship situation. If you have a hardship, you can apply for an extension and if you can prove that your business has been disrupted, we would waive any penalties that you might incur, but the request is that all business owners file taxes as normal to the maximum extent possible and indicate specifically and with a proof if there is a hardship.

It's very important to note that this crisis certainly puts a clear light on the fact that the city of New York does not have unlimited resources. We have a lot we need to cover and we do not have unlimited resources. We need the federal government to play a much bigger role and we don't see enough evidence of that yet. So, our concern is overall when we think about revenue, the impact, all this is happening of course, but we're also concerned we do not see that massive federal stimulus yet. And we do see a lot of volatility in the stock market. So, we are very concerned that we keep our revenue picture as strong as it can be in light of those realities.

Now, very important issue, everyone understands we're going to be massively building out our health care system. We're going to be creating a new health care capacity in our hospitals, but we're also going to be creating health care capacity where there's never been a hospital before because we're going to need this massive mobilization to be able to address this crisis in the weeks ahead. As our health care leaders have said, the physical space in many ways is the easy part. Getting the equipment and supplies, which we do not have enough of for the long haul, we must have federal support for that. But maybe even more challenging – the personnel, the glue of the health care system is the people, the experts, the medical professionals of all types. So, we're launching a citywide campaign and it will look and feel like a war time mobilization message. And the message will be simple; if you are a health care worker, you have any appropriate training, we need you and we need you right away. It's going to be crystal clear. This is so far from business-as-usual, there's no words for it. Anyone who brings health care skills to the equation, your city needs you now.

Now, couple of key categories – there are about 9,000 licensed and retired health care workers who are registered in what is called the Medical Reserve Corps. That corps is managed by our Department of Health. We're going to work to mobilize that corps immediately. It is on a voluntary basis, but we're going to ask all those who are part of our Medical Reserve Corps who can come forward to help, we need you now. Also, licensed workers who aren't in the Medical Reserve Corps can be added to it and that means a number of folks in health care right now could be people in private practice, for example, who are not connected to a larger institution – we are going to need you and we're asking you to sign up for the corps.

The website where you can sign-up is live today. Go to www.nyc.gov/HelpNowNYC. Again, nyc.gov/HelpNowNYC. We need everyone who's able to come forward.

Few more updates. We had enforcement activities this morning by the NYPD, FDNY, Department of Buildings, and the Sheriff's Office out at bars and restaurants to ensure they have closed their in-house dining and have converted to delivery and take- out. We have had a very high level of compliance. There were instances where warnings had to be given and reminders had to be given that initial, and this is initial information, said that was around ten percent of the cases, but overall high compliance and we believe that will only deepen up-ahead and that enforcement will continue so long as we see any lack of adherence.

Few final points, today at 6:00 pm there will be an alert sent to all New Yorkers with an appropriate device. Some of you will remember this has been the same approach that has taken place in the middle of a major weather events, blizzards and hurricanes, or major police activity. You will get a loud audio alert and a vibration. This is happening today at 6:00 pm. We'd like everyone in the media to please let all those who follow what you put out there know. This is to alert everyone to the fact that as we move forward this type of alert will be coming and that we want everyone who can to sign-up for the proactive information; there's still a lot of misinformation out there. So, one, what we're going to say today at 6:00 PM is how important it is to text C-O-V-I-D to 692-692. Or, if you're a Spanish speaker, C-O-V-I-D-E-S-P to 692-692.” The more people who do that – and it's hundreds of thousands already – but the more people who do that, the better off we'll be in terms of ensuring that people are getting real accurate information quickly. But it's also a heads-up. The alert will send at six o'clock, which will be in both English and Spanish, is a heads-up to people that given the severity of crisis, they can expect those more serious alerts from time-to- time and to get ready for them.

Before I turn to Dr. Cohen and Dr. Katz, just a few reminders again, if you are sick - stay home. If anyone in your family is sick, they need to stay home. If you're sick, take those three or four days. If you don't get better, call a doctor. Do not go to the emergency room unless it is truly an urgent and immediate emergency. We have to protect the ability to help those who are in greatest danger and everyone has a role to play in that.

And again, the current rules in effect always potentially subject to change. We want as many people in general to stay home as possible. We want everyone who can telecommute to telecommute and when you're trying to figure out what's an appropriate activity or not, the general rule is stay home - when in doubt stay home. But there are exceptions, Dr. Barbot delineated them yesterday. Obviously, if you need to go out and get groceries, that makes sense. If you need to get to the pharmacy for medicine, that makes sense. If you need to get clean clothes, that makes sense. If you need to get some exercise or take your dog for a walk, that makes sense while you're doing all these things, practice social distancing. Keep three to six feet apart from everyone around you to the maximum extent feasible and when you don't need to be outside, get back home and those are simple rules and we'll keep updating people on them as we go along.

There's a big share of personal responsibility in all of this is not going to be easy. This is going to be a long battle, but New Yorkers are the toughest and the most resilient people in this nation. If any place can handle Corona virus, it's New York City. But I always say behind our tough exterior's beat hearts, gold. New Yorkers are very compassionate people. Look out for those in your life – seniors - look out particularly for those over 70, if they need food, if they need prescriptions, if they need help, let's be there for them. Look out for folks who have those preexisting conditions. If we help each other, we will get through this. I'm absolutely convinced if New Yorkers do what we did after Sandy after 9/11, so many other times, we will get through this, but we all have to do it together.

With that and I just want to thank you, Dr. Cohen and everyone at BioReference laboratories. I am I literally want to thank you on behalf of 8.6 million New Yorkers. You are the cavalry who has rode to the rescue here and we are eternally grateful. And Dr. Cohen, I'd love you had talked to everyone about the new capacity you're bringing online and the work we will all be doing together. Thank you.

Dr. Jon Cohen, BioReference: So, thank you, Mr. Mayor, first off for your leadership and the privilege actually to serve. I can assure you that the folks at BioReference I can tell you have been working 24/7 for literally the last ten days to get up to capacity for what we think is going to be needed and beyond. So first you know, we take this responsibility incredibly seriously and believe that the private sector is here to assist government and government agencies to combat this epidemic. Second, in particular supporting the Health + Hospital Corporation as the largest public health system in the country. And, of course, serving New York City, serving the most vulnerable and at risk populations in this city is something we think is incredibly important for the private sector to step up to and be part of. Third finally as a physician I take this personally. And what I mean by that is I want to make sure that every one of those front line physicians, nurses, health care workers that are actually putting their lives and their risk in the front to get these people done, to get these people healthy, have everything that they need and in our case, the testing ability and to bring that testing ability to them in the most timely fashion so that they can take care of their patients. We will, as we've stated, we have committed to testing 5,000 patients a day and as a result of that, we will ramp up for them as needed in the next couple of weeks.

Mayor: Doctor, thank you again. We really, really appreciate the collaboration and the partnership and we've got a long battle ahead, but it is great to have you and your colleagues on our side. I want to turn to Dr. Mitch Katz, CEO of Health + Hospitals. And obviously he will describe what this new testing will mean for all of the people who work in Health + Hospitals and their ability to serve people in greatest need. 

President and CEO Mitchell Katz, Health + Hospitals: Thank you Mr. Mayor and thanks to you and Dr. Cohen for providing us this capacity for testing. For people who need to better understand why this is so important —remember that not everybody who has respiratory distress has COVID-19. Some people may be suffering from heart disease with it worsening. Some people may have bacterial pneumonia. These are illnesses that typically affect hundreds of people every day at hospitals that we run. What we need to be able to figure out is which seriously ill people have COVID-19 and as quickly as we possibly can. This capacity will assure that we're able to test all seriously ill patients and equally important, it will cut in half the wait time to a final response. So, we will know for sure that the patient is COVID-19 positive or negative and that will greatly improve our clinical care. Let me just say though that while this capacity is wonderful, it is meant for people who are sick and need services at a hospital. The City is working extremely hard and the Mayor's done great efforts on being able shortly to massively expand capacity for testing people who are not symptomatic at other facilities that will be created in non-hospital spaces so that people can be tested in the safest place possible as quickly as possible.

But I'd like to ask all my fellow New Yorkers on behalf of their parents, on behalf of their grandparents, on behalf of people that they know, who have serious health conditions, that right now we need people who are asymptomatic to stay home. We need people with minimal symptoms in the first three days to stay home. We are preparing to take care of anyone who has serious symptoms, people whose symptoms have not gone away after three or four days. And that will all be helped if people who are currently without symptoms or with minimal symptoms will await the greater expansion of testing for them. Thank you.