Update NYC: July 2020

Annamaria on Monday

It feels like dawn here as NYC enters Phase IV of reopening.

Silhouettte of an iconic New York rooftop water tower
taken from my bedroom window at 5:37 AM 21 July

Stores are opening.  Neighborhood restaurants are setting out tables and awnings for outdoor dining.  We've been to hell and are coming back out into the sunshine.

But most of us are keeping in mind the old saying: Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.

Our pandemic statistics are all still good.  Here are some screenshots from  our Governor Andrew Cuomo's press conference from last Thursday.  They remind us where we have been and why we are where we are.

Starting on March 3, hospitalizations in New York State went up in pretty much

a J-curve.  We were the worst-off place in the country.  Our State government began to report the numbers daily and share with the citizenry the best advice available on how to stop the virus.  Things were pretty chaotic, but little by little as the experts got a handle on best procedures, numbers got under control.  By May 15th, we began a gradual, ultra-careful reopening process, watching the numbers and--at that point--worried that reopening would lead to a new rise in cases.  But, mirabile dictu, the numbers continued to go down.  We now have the best numbers in the nation.

Left: NY State; Right: USA as a whole/

New York's success in quelling the transmission of the virus comes because we never bought the prevailing theory across the nation.  That the choice was between defeating the virus or boosting the economy--a false dichotomy foisted on the public by the White House.  Defeating the virus is precisely what country needs to do to BOOST its economy.

While most of the rest of the country is being overwhelmed and struggling to get on top of the spread, New York and our neighboring states are opening up.  So far, so good

BUT...

  

Here are the words of the head epidemiologist in the USA, Dr. Anthony Fauci.  They are his answer to an interviewer on National Public Radio:

   

This is precisely the "red sky" warning the Guv has given:

I liked this slide a lot.  It made me feel like a very cool old lady, because
"You Gotta Fight for Your Right to Party," a racuus song by the Beastie Boys
 is on my daily dance/exercise playlist.  

The Guv has put teeth in this advice.  Bars that allow patrons to congregate in large groups will lose their liquor licenses.  Some already have.  I pray they smarten up before the whole mess gets out of hand again. 

New York is replete with reminders of what to do.  Posters about masks and social distancing grace every building entrance.  Here are my absolute favorites of New Yorkers giving good example in the time of Covid.  At my beloved New York Public Library:

These lions are called Patience and Fortitude, precisely the virtues we all need in these times.

Here is the wonderful Art Deco statue of Atlas holding up the world in Rockefeller Center.  

Though I have long since tired of isolation, I have to say that MORE than ever--

I love New York!