Despite NYC’s severe COVID restrictions, outcome no different than anywhere else except unemployment

New York City has the strictest vaccine mandates in the country, but is still seeing surging cases that are shattering records and landing the city in the same boat as states that have open economies and little to no mandates.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced 5,731 new cases in the city on Sunday as the omicron variant spreads, which is far above the average of fewer than 1,000 daily cases the city had early last month.

In New York overall, the state reported a record number of new cases in one day on Thursday, coming in at 21,027. The previous record was set on Jan. 14, when there were 19,942 reported new cases.

As cases rise, New York City – as well as the state – had already enacted strict mandates on vaccines and other requirements to avoid such spikes.

All city workers were mandated to get the vaccine; people dining indoors, going to the gym or visiting venues such as museums or concert halls must show proof of vaccination; children ages 5 to 11 are required to show proof of vaccination to participate in indoor activities; masks were made mandatory again indoors last month.

This week, all employees of private schools – such as Catholic schools and yeshivas – were mandated to be vaccinated in the city.- READ MORE