Status: 04.01.2022 02:23 a.m.
In New York, depending on the district, every third to fifth resident has become infected with the corona virus. Despite the skyrocketing number of cases, the mayor warns of closings. But there is a shortage of staff everywhere.
The 13-year-old student Alex is looking forward to this test. He stands in line at a mobile Covid laboratory in Midtown Manhattan. “I can’t wait to go back to my school and see all of my friends and teachers.”
Despite the skyrocketing number of infections, the city has fully reopened public schools after the Christmas holidays. But before the students are allowed into the buildings, their parents must give consent for them to be randomly tested once a week.
“We can’t repeat that”
Elementary school teacher Sarah Hunter is happy that she works at a private school and is not currently being forced into the classroom. “Our school will be closed for the whole of January. We’ll be teaching on the laptops again.” The school building is the safest place for the children, emphasizes the new mayor Eric Adams.
The infection rates are low there. Your children are in a safe place where they can learn and grow. We lost almost two years of real school tuition. We cannot repeat that.
In the meantime, every third to fifth New Yorker has been infected with the virus, depending on the district. The tendency of the curves is red and increasing in all statistics. Personnel is becoming increasingly scarce: In shops, hospitals – at airports. Thousands of stranded passengers had only been put to the test of their patience at the three New York airports over the New Year: a quarter of the flights there were delayed or canceled.
Adams warns of the economic consequences of closings
Mainly there was a lack of staff. Large corporations like the investment bank Goldman Sachs sent their people back to the home office. But Adams warns them all: The city should not allow itself to be brought to its knees economically by the virus: “If we close our city, it will be as dangerous as Covid.”
On his first day at work, the mayor demonstratively takes the subway. Adams wants to prove: the system works. Even if many trains simply cannot run due to a lack of staff. However, many of his employees in the town hall were also caught. Almost a quarter of the people tested across the state were infected on New Year’s Eve, according to official figures.
Memories of last January
The numbers that have been available since then are not reliable because of the holiday weekend, explains Governor Kathy Hochul.
Those numbers are shocking, but luckily, it’s not the Delta variant. Much more people test positive, though. But they don’t get sick as badly as other people before.
The situation in the clinics is therefore still relaxed despite further deliveries. Shops and museums are becoming increasingly empty. The Midtown Manhattan office center looks dead. On the avenues, the few people can talk again without the noise of cars. The emptiness on the sidewalks is reminiscent of last January, when there was just another big wave of Covid – but hardly any vaccinations, emphasizes Hochul.
A year ago everyone asked: When will I finally get the vaccination? And now there are some everywhere. There is not a single person in New York State who cannot be vaccinated.
Mayor Adams has taken over the vaccination mandate from his predecessor: employees of public and private companies must be completely vaccinated. Adams is currently checking whether he should extend the mandate to include the booster.
“Closure not an option”: New York is heading towards the top of the Omikron
Antje Passen, ARD New York, 3.1.2022 11:21 p.m.