De Blasio: Coronavirus in NYC is ‘Not a question of if, but when’
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Friday that “there is little doubt” that someone in New York City will soon become infected with the rapidly-spreading Coronavirus.
“It’s not a question of if, it’s a question of when,” de Blasio told reporters at Emergency Management headquarters in Brooklyn. “We have to act on the assumption that there will unfortunately be cases sooner rather than later in New York City.”
First detected just last month in Wuhan, China, as of noon on Friday, the virus has spread to seven countries, including two confirmed cases in the U.S., in Seattle and Chicago. Both of the U.S. individuals had recently traveled to Wuhan, which is currently quarantined along with several other Chinese cities. The CDC is monitoring dozens of other individuals in the U.S.