Mayor Eric Adams put his face mask on again on Tuesday and encouraged New Yorkers to do the same. Mr. Adams held a news conference at City Hall to urge residents to take precautions in the face of a winter surge of Covid-19 cases and other illnesses. “With the holiday season in full swing and cases of Covid-19, flu and R.S.V. rising, we are asking New Yorkers to protect themselves and their loved ones once again,” Mr. Adams said.
It was the mayor’s first Covid briefing in months, and he does not typically wear a mask in public. City health officials issued an advisory earlier this month strongly recommending that people wear masks in both public indoor settings and crowded outdoor environments, but many New Yorkers who are weary of pandemic restrictions have not complied.
City health officials again encouraged New Yorkers on Tuesday to get vaccinated and boosted, noting that more than 80 percent of people who are dying from the coronavirus are unvaccinated. They also recommended that people get tested before gathering for the holidays. Mr. Adams, a Democrat who is nearing the end of his first year in office, received his second booster shot on camera in September. He has been eager to move on from the pandemic and its economic devastation of the city, and has resisted bringing back mask mandates.