Cancel Your Super Bowl Party To Stop Coronavirus, De Blasio Says

New York City NY

04 February, 2021

11:55 AM

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NEW YORK CITY — Mayor Bill de Blasio is playing the role of Super Bowl party pooper, but he has a reason: the coronavirus. Hizzoner on Thursday urged New Yorkers to avoid throwing or attending large gatherings for the Super Bowl. Even with the COVID-19 vaccine, the chance of spreading the virus is too great to gather in big parties this year, he said. "The last thing you want to do is get together for the big game and someone gets sick as a result," de Blasio said. Super Bowl LV between the Kansas City Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers is Sunday. It caps an NFL season defined by empty stands and coronavirus outbreaks. There are conflicting signs that New York's coronavirus cases are declining, though they remain dangerously high. Gov. Andrew Cuomo, in a release issued Thursday, said the state reached the lowest daily coronavirus positivity rate — 4.38 percent — since November. But New York City officials measure positivity differently than their state counterparts, and the results are consistently higher. New York City's coronavirus positivity rate — as of Thursday and as measured by the city — stood at 8.48 percent, de Blasio said. He said New Yorkers should only have Super Bowl gatherings with the people "immediately" in their lives and be safe. "Keep your gathering small and close and then next year you can have the biggest party you've ever had because we'll be past this thing," he said.