NYC’s COVID Death Toll Hits 25,000 Deaths, Mayor said, “Vaccine will be the “Difference-Maker”
By Yehudit Garmaise
The city’s Health Department reports that 25,008 deaths were confirmed or likely caused by cases of COVID-19.
“It’s incredibly painful. These are people who were part of our families, part of communities,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said during his Tuesday press briefing. “It’s shocking still.”
The city on Tuesday also reported that the number of New Yorkers testing positive for COVID-19 took a giant leap up to 7.45%, which might be artificially inflated because fewer people tested during the last few weeks of the year.
“The threat of this disease is very real,” said the mayor, who remains concerned about the COVID mutation that has come out of Great Britain. “We want people to stay on their guard. We want people to keep wearing masks, keep practicing social distancing, keep limiting travel, and keep gatherings very small.”
The tragic COVID statistics should strengthen our resolve to protect every single New Yorker with the vaccine, the mayor said this morning.
“We need to make sure that people know it is safe and is effective and it's going to be available widely, and we need people to get it to protect themselves and their families,” Mayor de Blasio said. “I think that's – that's the thing we can do right now to honor those we've lost."
The mayor looked forward to the city’s “recovery and rebirth” in 2021, as the city’s population gets vaccinated against the virus, and life can begin to return to normal after a year of severe restrictions, lockdowns, and anxiety.
“The goal is to get every single person vaccinated,” the mayor said. “We want to make sure to get the vaccine where it is needed the most.”