Mayor de Blasio Warns to Remain Socially Distant, Without Acknowledging Democrats’ Weekend Celebrations

By Yehudit Garmaise

    This morning at a press conference, Mayor Bill de Blasio repeatedly warned of increasing COVID positivity rates. Ted Long, MD, the vice president of ambulatory care at New York City’s Health and Hospitals, strongly discouraged even small social gatherings because one person who is infected with COVID can easily transmit the virus to others.

   “We know the virus spreads through social gatherings: even small get-togethers, and the cooler weather means dryer air, conditions we know for most respiratory viruses, like the coronavirus, more contagious.”

  Dr. Long even posted guidelines for “safe celebrations that will protect the health of those who are most dear to you.”

   More than one reporter, however, was left to wonder why the mayor, or even one of the city’s top Health Department doctors on the call, did not mention, refer to, or even acknowledge the reality last weekend of the many Democrats who celebrated in the streets, without social distancing, their long-awaited victory of President-elect Joe Biden.

   “Are you guys worried that all the celebrations Saturday and Sunday could fuel this increase in [COIVD] cases?” one reporter asked.

   Without acknowledging the conflict between the mayor’s repeated message from the opening of the press conference that “Six feet and a mask are what helps separate from a second wave, hospitalizations, and avoidable suffering,” and the reality of the celebrations on Sunday, Mayor de Blasio slightly changed the subject when he said COVID is much more easily transmitted inside among people not wearing masks, than among people who are outside and wearing masks.

   “I had this conversation with the doctors this morning, and there is a huge different between [the risks of being] outdoors with a mask versus [the risks of being] indoors within a mask, and this is really what we are seeing decisively,” the mayor said.

  “Those outdoor gatherings are always something to keep an eye on. If people have mask on, we haven’t seen too much ill come of that. Increasingly, the concern is that not enough people are wearing masks [when they are among other people] indoors.

   While the mayor did say that over the summer, he and the scientific community were not yet aware that the dangers of transmitting COVID among gatherings inside are much greater than the risk of spreading COVID among outside gatherings, Mayor de Blasio left something unsaid, which is that, once again, there appears to be a double standard when outdoor mass gatherings occur during COVID.

   When confronted about this possible double standard, the mayor only repeated what he said previously, which is that “We are seeing a profound difference when people are indoors. We are seeing a profound difference when people don’t wear masks. I think everyone needs to be careful all the time.”

   However, the mayor and Dr. Long, Dave Chokshi, the commissioner of the New York City Department of Health and Hygiene, and Jay Varma, MD, the deputy commissioner for disease control at the New York City Health Department never veered from their overall consistent message, which was, “Every day: mask up, maintain distance, wash your hands, stay home if you are ill, and get tested.”

  Dr. Long also added, “If you don’t absolutely have to, don’t travel: this will protect not just your loved ones, but other New Yorkers. Don’t host a party. Avoid gatherings.”

   As Dr. Long, Dr. Chokshi, and the mayor continued to relay their messages about social distancing, the incongruous images of Democrats huddled in the streets and partying without rebuke played in the background of the minds of many reporters, who wondered why the partiers seemed to be gathering under a different set of rules.

   When Mayor de Blasio said, “If these numbers we are reporting today continue to grow, then people are going to have to get used to more and more restrictions and going back to some of the ways we had to live in the spring,” he made one wonder, which “people” will get have to used to more restrictions?

   One wonders whether the “people” about whom de Blasio was warning about restrictions are those  whom agree with Mayor de Blasio politically, or perhaps those who gather outdoors for reasons that have nothing to do with Democratic politics and its victories and concerns.