NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- A day after declaring a state of emergency for New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio says we have to protect our healthcare system at all costs.
He also said he is most concerned about protecting three pillars: Schools, transit and healthcare.
De Blasio repeatedly stressed the importance and strength of city health care system, including public & private sectors. He pointed to a new WHO study out of China that says COVID-19 indeed appears to be not airborne, but transmitted person-to-person via fluids.
"Every new piece of information helps us in our decision making."
De Blasio announced he plans to keep mass transit, schools and public healthcare up and running."My goal is to keep all three of those going as effectively as we can," he said.
The mayor said he has been working with the chancellor and his team about keeping schools open. "It is my strong belief that if schools weren't open, kids would be looking all over for things to do and we would not see a pristine quarantine situation," the mayor adds.
He also called Friday's 68 percent of NYC school attendance rate troubling, but said people will have to adjust to a "new reality."
He said the schools are also going to cancel field trips and limit gym and physical ed classes.
As of Friday afternoon, there were at least 154 coronavirus cases in the city.
De Blasio confirmed 35 cases of coronavirus in Manhattan, 24 in Brooklyn, 26 cases in Queens 13 in the Bronx and five on Staten Island.
There are 524 cases in New York state as of Saturday morning -- it now has the most cases of any state.
The mayor noted that although the city is in a state of emergency, he wants to put limitations of gathering but wants people to "go on with their lives and rest assured things are being done to protect them."