New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio urged people to go out and catch a movie just three weeks before his city became the U.S. epicenter for the coronavirus outbreak.
On March 1, the first case of the coronavirus was announced in New York City. At the time, more than 80,000 people worldwide had confirmed cases of the virus, and President Trump had issued travel warnings against South Korea and Italy. However, de Blasio wasn’t as concerned.
“Since I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus, I thought I would offer some suggestions,” de Blasio tweeted on March 2. “Here’s the first: thru Thurs 3/5 go see The Traitor [at Lincoln Center]. If The Wire was a true story + set in Italy, it would be this film.”
As of Wednesday morning, New York had more than 25,000 confirmed cases and 210 related deaths from the virus. Many Twitter users condemned de Blasio for his nonchalance at the beginning of the outbreak.
The mayor of New York was encouraging people to out and party 3 weeks ago—when ten Italian municipalities were already on lock-down from Coronavirus https://t.co/yTRkIhCYV9
— Avi Asher-Schapiro (@AASchapiro) March 25, 2020
TWENTY DAYS AGO: https://t.co/cpE1fyBZEh
— Yossi Gestetner (@YossiGestetner) March 23, 2020
From a month ago. I wonder what NYC residents think about this tweet? They are on total lockdown now. Begging for ventilators. Oof https://t.co/qFTNfEGjFf
— Chris Stigall (@ChrisStigall) March 25, 2020
Tweet from March 2nd
The same day, the New York Times published a piece with this headline “Italy, Europe’s Coronavirus Lab.”
Every elected official who didn’t forcefully lead the charge on this crisis when plenty of information was available now has blood on their hands. https://t.co/Umaqh2KaCS
— Yashar Ali ? (@yashar) March 25, 2020
De Blasio has been criticized for his response to the coronavirus outbreak for the past few weeks. Teachers nearly went on strike in the form of a “sickout” because de Blasio would not close schools. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo eventually stepped in on March 15 and overrode the mayor’s decision to keep schools open. De Blasio was also slammed for going to the gym hours after announcing that they would be closed citywide the next day.
Dr. Deborah Birx, the coordinator of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, said that the virus’s “attack rate” is five times higher in New York than it is in other areas of the United States. She explained, “Clearly, the virus has been circulating there for a number of weeks to have this level of penetrance into the general community.”
