COVID-19: NYC Quote of the Day 2020-06-01

Monday, June 1, 2020, NYC Mayor de Blasio - Two Almost Exact Opposite Realities Colliding

Question: How much are you concerned that there will be a rise in COVID cases as a result of all of these crowds and why have you not made public health statements over the last couple of days reminding about social distancing?

Mayor: We are dealing with another absolutely unforeseen moment that's vast in its scale that if there had not been the coronavirus now, these last few days would stand out in American history as a painful, profound moment. I think we've got two almost exact opposite realities, if you will, that are colliding at the same time. The disparities pervade both. The racism that is inherent in what happened with the pandemic is also inherent in all the concerns running through the policing debate. But to your central point, it's very hard to say to people, when there's such pain, there's such anger, that if you say, "Don't come out because of the pandemic." We don't want people to hear that as, we are not hearing your concerns, or your concerns are not valid, or we don't have to change things. It's a very tough balance.

I am very worried about the health impact, I would urge everyone to think about this. And I do think that for those who have made their presence felt, made their voices heard, the safest thing for this point is to stay home, obviously, because we don't want people in close proximity to each other. We don't want people out there where they might catch this disease or spread this disease. And I think more and more people have to realize there is a danger that it will cause some real impact on the resurgence of this disease. We don't have the facts yet.

These things are happening outdoors – that's better, thank God, than if people were gathering together indoors, but there's no question there's a danger of this could intensify the spread of the coronavirus just at a point when we were starting to beat it back profoundly. I want to beseech everyone to think about that. If you do go out, please, try in any way you can to observe social distancing and keep those face coverings on.

We’ve got a lot to do in the city. We have to get back to fighting this coronavirus. We have to get back to being unified and doing this together.
Edited for redundancy, grammar, and emphasis
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