Mayor asks New Yorkers to stay home for holidays to protect against COVID-19

New York, Oct 28 (IANS) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio called on people to stay home for holidays in order to eschew group activities as a precaution against highly infectious COVID-19.

"We've all made sacrifices this year, and I'm asking you to make one more to get out of this crisis. Stay home for the holidays. Let's keep New York City safe," tweeted the mayor of the largest city of the United States on Tuesday, Xinhua news agency reported.

"New Yorkers, the pull of a festive time can be a strong one, but I urge you to think of your loved ones and their health," he added.

Fifteen minutes earlier, the mayor retweeted a video anchored and posted by his wife Chirlane McCray, an American writer, editor and activist, offering tips on how "to enjoy Halloween while preventing the spread of COVID-19."

"Halloween is in just a few days and we all know it's going to be a little different this year, but that doesn't mean it can't be fun!" she tweeted.

The next upcoming holiday in the country is Halloween, which falls on October 31.

Halloween activities include trick-or-treating (or the related guising and souling), attending Halloween costume parties, carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns, and lighting bonfires, among others.

As of Tuesday afternoon, the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University reported 33,424 coronavirus deaths in New York state, the worst in the country.