NYC urges precautions as holiday season nears

The New York City government has urged people to take precautions against the Covid-19 pandemic as Thanksgiving on November 26 will usher in the traditional holiday season.

"Go to virtual or outdoor religious services... Keep family gatherings small and outdoors, if possible... Stay local, travel safely, get a free Covid-19 test and quarantine for 14-days after a trip," Xinhua news agency quoted a tweet by the city government as saying on Monday.

Also taking to Twitter, Mayor Bill de Blasio said: "With the holidays around the corner, we can't get complacent. We can't risk uncontrolled Covid-19 spread. We don't want another citywide shutdown.

"I know how hard this will be. I know it's a major sacrifice. But we need to keep our city safe.

"When it comes to our indicators, we are in a dangerous situation in New York City: 71 patients admitted to the hospital... 779 new cases... The infection rate 7-day average is 2.21 per cent.

"These numbers should have us all alarmed and ready to act with everything we've got."

Last week, the Mayor told the public that the city was not seeing a second wave of the pandemic as its infection rate had remained under 3 per cent, but still put people on high alert as the virus could fiercely attack the city at anytime, especially during winter.