New York eyeing COVID-19 rules tweaks – Democratic mayoral nominee

Mon, Jul 26, 2021
By editor
3 MIN READ

Foreign

DEMOCRATIC mayoral nominee, Eric Adams, has indicated that he would weigh stricter measures to contain COVID-19 in New York City if the numbers kept going in the wrong direction.

Most COVID-related regulations in the city ended at the start of the summer, but the number of cases has tripled in the Big Apple in recent weeks amid a rise nationwide.

“If we see that the numbers continue to uptick, then let’s adjust,’’ Adams, the Brooklyn borough president, says in an interview on WABC-TV.

“ Let’s be smart and ready to switch what we’re doing to keep the city safe.”

Mayor Bill de Blasio has urged businesses to require employee vaccinations.

He’s also requiring public hospital employees to get vaccinated or submit to weekly tests.

Although he’s shied away from a wider jab mandate for New Yorkers to attend public events, as was the case in France.

Adams said in the interview that he planned to attend one of five upcoming concerts scheduled to mark the city’s recovery from the pandemic with a caveat.

“Let’s not be so rigid that we feel just because we planned a concert that the show must go on.

“If we feel that it’s going to do anything to jeopardise the safety of the city and have us go backward, to do another shutdown like what’s happening in other parts of the country, I say no to that,” he said.

Adams won the Democratic primary for mayor in June by less than a percentage point and was expected to cruise to victory in the November general election in overwhelmingly Democratic New York City.

He promised to tap big bucks from the private sector and tap ideas from his former rivals.

“When you look at the billions of dollars that go into non-profits, they come from affluent New Yorkers.

“It’s important that we build this community -corporate partnership.

“There’s some things government can do well, and there are things that outside entities do far better,” Adams said.

He said, he has had meetings with several of his campaign opponents and spoken with “all of the top candidates” since he was declared the Democratic winner on July 6.

The former NYPD captain said he was setting up an “extensive” transition team that would look closely at some of his rivals’ ideas, praising left-wing candidate, Dianne Morales, for her call to use more mental health professionals and fewer cops in some situations.

Talking on public safety, he reiterated his promise to crack down on crime, an issue he put at the centre of his campaign.

Under his watch, the New York Police Department would “go after those gangs.

“We know who they are and we’ll really talk them out of violence but at the same time, have an appropriate police response with precision policing,’’ Adams said. (dpa/NAN)

-July 26, 2021 @ 17:25 GMT |

Tags: