New York is the focal point of the spread of COVID-19 in the US but most NYC residents are normally going out, paying no heed to the “Stay at Home” order and totally obliterating the concept of social distancing.
An example of this recklessness can be seen in the photos from Central Park that just surfaced on social media.
The photos show tens of people walking around, clearly against the “six feet apart” principle suggested by health specialists as well as the government.
It can be seen in the photographs that most people are not wearing a face mask, which is against the guidance of the Centers for Disease Control.
The CDC has instructed all Americans to wear a non-medical face mask because it has recently been discovered that around half of the people testing positive for the virus show no symptoms and can spread the disease while being oblivious of its existence in their body.
Other than the CDC directive, Bill de Blasio, the mayor of New York, has also made it mandatory for all people to wear masks when they go out.
NYC is not under a curfew, which means that the residents have the right to go out for essential tasks like going to a grocery store or a pharmacy or for fresh air and exercise.
However, people are advised to stay indoors as much as possible.
New York Times has reported that the state of New York has 122,911 confirmed cases of COVID-19 so far and the death toll is 4,161.
The deaths in NY are the highest in any state across all of the US.
US health officials and government have been instructing people to avoid gatherings and maintain a safe distance from others for a month now.
The latest guidelines, about face masks, were announced by the president himself on Friday.
The president previously stated that he desired to see America go back to normal again before Easter but by the end of March, he decided to extend the lockdown till the end of April.
“The modeling estimates that the peak in death rate is likely to hit in two weeks. I will say it again. The peak, the highest point of death rates, remember this, is likely to hit in two weeks,” the president said in a statement to the press on March 29.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the health adviser for White House, said on the same day that the US is expected to have a death toll of up to 200,000 due to COVID-19, with infected people amounting to millions.
Social distancing cannot be the absolute solution to stop the spread of COVID-19 but it has proven to be effective in slowing down the spread of the pandemic.
According to the CDC, the best methods for preventing the spread of COVID-19 are basic personal hygiene, regular hand washing and staying at home as much as possible.
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