People shouldn't hide, but keep 'living their lives' despite COVID surge, NYC mayor says

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Wednesday said his goal is a New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square, noting the festivities are outdoors again and include a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for admission.

People should go about their lives and shouldn't "hide," de Blasio said during a morning appearance on CNN, adding that anyone feeling ill should stay home. The mayor said he's against reinstating shutdowns — which characterized much of 2020 and disrupted work, school, and much human interaction — and life must return to normal.

"We’re not telling vaccinated people to stop living their lives," de Blasio said, urging the booster against COVID-19.

So far, symptoms of the virus' latest widespread variant, omicron, are generally mild, and cases haven't overwhelmed hospitals, as happened during the worst of the pandemic.

He said: "We are not telling people to hide, or hunker down, or surrender to this situation. We're telling people to be smart."

Last year's usual large public New Year's celebration was canceled due to the pandemic. On Sunday, de Blasio held a virtual news conference where he gave an update on the omicron variant's rapid spread and left open the possibility of dialing back or even canceling this year's Times Square festivities.

De Blasio on Wednesday said the event is expected to return to a more traditional celebration but the city is "looking to add additional measures" to make Times Square on New Year's Eve even safer. He declined to say what those measures would be.

Later, at his daily news conference, the mayor said no municipal agency had major staffing problems due to workers' coronavirus sickness.

"Everything is functioning and moving forward," he said.

Separately, NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea said in an interview with WPIX/Ch. 11, that the police force's sick rate was at 7.8%, which represented a doubling of cases in a week. NYPD officers sick with the latest COVID-19 variant don't appear to be seriously ill, Shea said.

At the height of the pandemic, in 2020, the NYPD saw a sick rate of close to 20% of the police force, which is currently at about 35,000.

"The good news," Shea said Wednesday, "we are not seeing a dramatic increase in hospitalization among our employees. It remains essentially where it was. So, if there is a silver lining, that is it."

The department has a vaccination rate of 88% for cops, Shea added.

Also Wednesday, de Blasio announced that more testing centers are opening for anyone who wants a test, bringing the total to about 119, in addition to privately-run sites like CityMD, the urgent-care provider.

The city itself can handle about 180,000 tests per day, according to Dr. Ted Long, head of the city's testing and tracing operation.

Once the city gets an ample supply of at-home tests to distribute, de Blasio said, "we could easily be up above 200,000 when you add them into the equation each day."

With Anthony M. DeStefano

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By Matthew Chayes

matthew.chayes@newsday.comchayesmatthew

Matthew Chayes, a Newsday reporter since 2007, covers New York City.