New York City to reopen on July 1: Mayor

By Servet Gunerigok

WASHINGTON (AA) - New York City is planning to fully reopen on July 1 as it sees more residents get vaccinated for the coronavirus, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

"We are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open offices, theaters, full strength," he told the MSNBC network’s Morning Joe program.

The country’s most populous city, with about 8.3 million residents, was the epicenter in the US during the early months of the pandemic that first appeared here in January 2020.

De Blasio said 6.3 million people have been vaccinated across the city.

"We know the vaccination efforts are going to grow and grow. We got to keep working hard at that," he said.

As of Thursday, New York City has more than 924,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 33,000 virus-related deaths, according to a tally by the New York Times.