Mayor Bill de Blasio may soon order New Yorkers to only leave their homes for food, medicine and exercise — a major escalation of the Big Apple’s coronavirus containment plan.
De Blasio was asked on CNN Tuesday morning if he had any plans for a shelter-in-place edict similar to the one in San Francisco.
“We’re absolutely considering that,” de Blasio said. “We’re going to look at all other options, but it could get to that for sure for the whole country.”
De Blasio has been hesitant to enact more drastic measures to contain the outbreak, only shutting down schools and restaurants as pressure mounted Sunday– days after other cities already ordered those closures.
The San Francisco order prevents people from leaving their homes except for necessities for the next three weeks.
Violating the Bay Area directive could result in a fine or even jail time, but for now local police and sheriffs are ensuring compliance instead of resorting to enforcement, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
De Blasio also said he expects the city’s bars and restaurants to be closed “for months” except for takeout and deliveries. He put the timeline through June or “longer.”
“We need to have in our minds that this could be a crisis of at a minimum several months,” he said.
The mayor also prepared parents for the likely scenario that public schools may be closed beyond next month.
“April 20 is when we’re going to make our first attempt, but watching the trajectory it’s hard to imagine that’s going to work,” he said.
De Blasio called on the federal government to “bail out the American people” so they have money for basics like medicine, food and housing.
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