Excitement and anxiety on the eve of the reopening of New York City Coronavirus pandemic News

Brooklyn, New York, USA – Bahar Bybordi remembers hearing a “blue code” every 10 or 15 minutes or so; it was the early days of the coronavirus pandemic at the Brooklyn Hospital Center – and that phone message meant someone was dying or had to be resurrected.

The cries of the relatives of the deceased would be so loud that Bybordi, during the breaks, would close the office door and turn on the music to drown out the cries.

“I have friends, doctors, who intubated them,” the doctor told Al Jazeera. “Last year there were seven or eight workers killed: patient transport, clerks and a cook.”

Earlier last year, New York City had one of the worst COVID-19 infection rates on the planet. Many worried that the city would overcome fears on the streets, with sirens hitting empty skyscrapers and bodies piled up in freezer trucks – including one located outside that Brooklyn medical facility.

But the heads of state are relying on a quick plan to reopen it, to revive the U.S.’s largest metro economy and turn the page on a tremendous chapter, even though a large part of the world is still on the rise.

With the benefit of strong vaccination efforts and huge dollars of federal stimulus, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo has reappeared on charges of sexual harassment and deliberately hiding data about deaths from foster homes by his team.

Cuomo announced earlier this month – just days after Bill de Blasio, his New York political rival, announced a reopening date for many businesses on July 1 – that May 19 would mark the start of a “major” restart.

There is a significant reduction in capacity for offices, retail, food service, gyms and museums get up on Wednesday as part of a coordinated effort by the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

Excitement

Gary Newton, a resident of the Fort Greene area of ​​Brooklyn, says the apartment is opposite the hospital complex and said he is “excited to reopen the city.”

“It’s been disappointing because I’m a hip-hop DJ and promoter and everything has been closed,” he told Al Jazeera. “I’ve left friends, family who have left.” Newton recently received his first dose of the Moderna vaccine, though he was skeptical that he would prefer to feel around thousands of people before a work trip to Mexico.

He said the peak of the New York pandemic was “very painful.” However, Newton said: “I’m in favor of going back and enjoying my life. There’s a bunch of illness around, but it’s hard to stop living.

“I couldn’t have survived without so much work for another year,” he added, suggesting that the governor was making a hasty return to normalcy.

New York has justified its rapid reopening by saying that social exclusion measures will remain in place, with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintaining a gap of six feet (two meters).

At a press conference, Cuomo explained the measures to reopen last week by comparing the national positivity rate of approximately 3 percent with that of the state. rate about 1 percent – a level not seen since mid-2020.

“Maintaining this progress is critical, and in order to move in a positive direction, New Yorkers must continue to take appropriate action,” Cuomo said as he sets new guidelines.

“If we leave now, we could slip back, and that’s what no one wants,” he added. “Let’s be safe and for anyone who hasn’t been vaccinated yet, do it as soon as possible.”

‘Functional immunity’

Surveys they have continued to show that many in the U.S., including New York, certainly continue to go on vacation, take planes, and attend big events.

Meanwhile, the state’s vaccination effort, while hugely successful, has slowed since it reached its peak in April, a trend that has also been seen locally and at the federal level. Only more than half of the state’s population is fully integrated, Cuomo announced Saturday.

The vaccine rate is still below the 70 to 80 percent threshold required for “herd immunity”. De Blasio has already moved away from that, however, saying the city’s new goal is “functional immunity,” and the city’s health commissioner has cited “community immunity” as the most viable. This would mean treating COVID-19 as a disease of defeat rather than victory that can be managed in the long run.

But by creating separate sections for people who are embedded and unincorporated in baseball stadiums, for example, Cuomo hopes to spark blows. Free tickets to the games are also being provided for those taking the dose, while new local incentives include free week-long subway passes and additional chips at the popular Shake Shack fast food chain. The state’s masked mandate is also easing as of Wednesday, accordingly federal guidelines.

The New York State vaccination effort, though hugely successful, has slowed since it peaked in April. [File: Caitlin Ochs/Reuters]

“It’s not a matter of whether reopening is right or wrong,” said epidemiologist and health equity expert Ashwin Vasan, who stressed efforts to move the “last mile” of vaccines forward.

Many are still suffering more than 50,000 coronavirus-related deaths and losing 10% of their jobs or staff a million last year.

“We still have a lot of people, including key staff, who are hesitant to get vaccinated or who can’t easily get to vaccination sites because of transportation barriers, poor internet access, inability to rest, language barriers and evidence of eligibility requirements,” he told Al Jazeera.

“We have been dealing with a collective trauma that no one of us has ever experienced for more than 15 months,” he said. “This pandemic has affected everyone in different ways, and we need to have policies that allow everyone to get into society at their own pace.”

Vaccine passport

For weeks, residents across the state have been able to use the Excelsior Pass mobile app – the vaccine passport – to attend sporting events, cultural performances and live entertainment. Broadway theaters will open Sept. 14, following a decision by owners to order a vaccine.

From Wednesday onwards, indoor gatherings will be allowed to add 250 people, with 50 limited to indoor residential gatherings and no limit to outdoor residential events. Large-scale indoor and outdoor premises will maintain capacity limits at 30 percent and 33 percent, respectively.

The governor also said the state’s public beaches and swimming pools will be one percent full capacity by July 4th.

Already in New York, the 24-hour subway service resumed on Monday after a year-long closing night to clean trains. The cover for the outdoor dining rooms has also just been completed, as the temperature for the indoor dining rooms is expected to rise by the end of May.

Many houses of worship open their doors completely to pray face to face, and the iconic Plaza Hotel will also reopen on Thursday after a year-long closure.

Regina Byrnes, 54, said she was grateful that COVID-19 had not been personally injured so far. “New York is going in the right direction,” he told Al Jazeera on a bench waiting for a walk outside the Brooklyn Community Hospital.

“A lot of people have joined, and it looks like we’re getting back on track.” Despite not inserting himself, Byrnes plans to cut his hair soon for the first time in many months and said, “It would be nice to travel.”

“It’s spring, but I would like to lower the level of violence,” he added. “Citizen safety is now a bigger concern than coronaviruses. There is a lot of shooting all over our city, which could be [byproduct of] pandemic “.

‘Be careful’

Despite the growing optimism, many people in New York are concerned about rising crime rates, as well as unstoppable office buildings, empty retail storefronts and people heading out to greener pastures.

Ziyad Alkhulaidi, a 23-year-old convenience store secretary, said the COVID-19 infection rate in the metro region soaking below 10 cases per 100,000 population last week, trade is “stronger, and will return slowly but surely”.

“It’s time [reopen]but not everything will be the same as before, ”Alkhulaidi, who lives with his family and has been vaccinated for the safety of others, told Al Jazeera from Greene Bites, which serves many hospital patients.

“I hope people will be aware of the coronavirus and be careful,” he added.

Local Vaccine Incentives Shake Shack are a popular fast food chain supplement for french fries [File: Caitlin Ochs/Reuters]