NYC Mayor wants stronger virus testing ability to relax virus restriction’s next month or June….

Several others have said the same must be in place to begin to try move the country away from the restrictions currently underway across the country…

New York City and in particular a area in the boro of Queens leads the country in virus cases…

The hostization numbers in the city have levelled and are dropping…

But the city and state must be able to see a contious drop in cases below a certain level for at least two weeks…

New York’s drops in cases would be significant for the country since their numbers are 40% or more of the national numbers…

The major will actually have New York Governor Cuomo set the final approval on any official action concerning the virus by the city….

“We would need more testing. And we don’t have it yet,” de Blasio said, adding the federal government still has not sent an adequate supply of test kits.

“If we could get widespread testing, it would start to change the entire strategy,” de Blasio said. “We have had to, from Day One, ration testing in a way none of us wanted to do.”

He said he hoped the feds would come through by late May or June.

To begin easing restrictions, the city will have to see consistent improvement for two consecutive weeks in three data points: the number of people testing positive for the disease, admissions to hospitals, and admissions to intensive care units. The city will begin publishing those statistics on Monday.

“We will not jump the gun. Unless we have sustained hard evidence that things are getting better, we will not relax any of the tough standards,” de Blasio said.

“We should be very worried about resurgence,” he added. “The last thing we can afford is to let down our guard and let this disease back in the door and then see the numbers spike up.”

To reduce infections, the city is also looking to provide hotel rooms where sick residents can isolate themselves to avoid infecting their family members by sheltering at home. De Blasio said that would happen “over time,” but did not provide a timeline.

The city has rented 10,000 hotel rooms to turn into hospital rooms and hopes to offer them up for people in quarantine as the need for treatment eases.

All New Yorkers have been ordered to stay home whenever possible, and bars, restaurants and all nonessential businesses are closed. Theaters, museums and cultural venues are shuttered, gatherings of any size are banned and people are ordered to stay six feet away from each other.

Some of those rules will stay in place for months even if others begin to loosen in May or June, de Blasio said. The city will urge New Yorkers to continue working from home for as long as possible. A decision is expected in the next few days on whether to cancel the rest of the school year, which would normally go through late June.

“We don’t know exactly what the new level of normal will be,” said Health Commissioner Oxiris Barbot….

More…

Note…

This IS also a media throw down to the Trump admin that wants a move to loosen restrictions…

De Blasio is asking for testing ability as his deal maker…

The cities ICU and Hospitalisation numbers have levelled  and dropped…Deaths have not, but those numbers have lags …

NY Governor Cuomo is sure to be asked about this also …

image….Michael Brochstein/Echoes Wre/Barcroft Media via Getty Images