Mayor warns of 'challenging few weeks' of omicron surge

Mayor warns surge will last for weeks

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says we should expect an explosion of new coronavirus cases in the next several weeks.

NEW YORK - The New York City mayor is warning of trying weeks ahead in the city due to the new coronavirus variant that is spreading rapidly but he does not anticipate a New York City lockdown or shutdown.

"We're going to see a really fast upsurge in cases. We're going to see a lot of New Yorkers affected by omicron," Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

But he said the good news is that because it is spreading so rapidly that the surge is expected to last weeks and not months.

"Based on everything we've seen so far, the cases are more mild than what we've experienced previously," de Blasio added.

6,989 new coronavirus cases were reported in the city on Saturday. 193 people were admitted to city hospitals with coronavirus and the positivity rate for coronavirus tests hit 35%.

New York responds to COVID surge

New York officials are planning to distribute millions of COVID self test kits to authorities around the state, including schools and public agencies. Meanwhile, New York City officials say that the city-run test sites should provide the fastest results.

6 million adults in New York City have had at least one dose and 600,000 children have also had at least one dose, the mayor announced at a Monday morning news conference. He said the large number of people who are vaccinated will help the city avoid another devastating shutdown.

"I do not see a scenario for any kind of shutdown because we are so vaccinated as a city, and because we have the ability to get a lot more vaccinated, that's where our energy should go," de Blasio said. "Another shutdown would have horrible, horrible impacts on the people of this city, but more importantly, it's not necessary if we keep getting more and more people vaccinated, we keep ensuring that people get tested, we keep reinforcing our hospital system, which is doing very, very well. We don't want to shut down. We want to vaccinate, simple as that."

NYC COVID crisis

New York City is experiencing a stunning surge on COVID-19 cases.

A new vaccine mandate went into effect Monday for childcare and early intervention workers. That impacts more than 100,000 employees in the city.

The mayor says the vaccine mandate is essential to offer protection against the virus for children.

The city is also adding testing sites across the city for people to get coronavirus tests. The 23 additional sites will bring the total of city-run sites up to 112.

The growing number of cases has impacted Broadway and other shows. At least ten shows have canceled some performances due to coronavirus cases. The Rockettes were forced to cancel the rest of their holiday performances.