Mayor announces 5-day furlough for city agencies; Health Dept. to increase Test & Trace following uptick

Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the uptick in COVID-19 cases across the city during a news conference Wednesday.

News 12 Staff

Sep 23, 2020, 5:20 PM

Updated 1,471 days ago

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Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the uptick in COVID-19 cases across the city during a news conference Wednesday.
One of the biggest concerns is a section of Brooklyn that the Department of Health is now calling the “Ocean Parkway Cluster,” which includes Midwood, Bensonhurst and Borough Park.
The mayor says there will be a dramatic increase of education and enforcements put in place to make sure there are no large gatherings and that people wear their masks.
"The Health Department leading the way, our Test and Trace Corps, lots of different parts of the city government involved in this effort. But because there will be a need to have an enforcement element, the sheriff's office will be involved and the NYPD would be involved as well,”says Mayor de Blasio.
The mayor says the cluster in Brooklyn now accounts for 20% of all cases citywide as of Sept. 19.
With no funding from the federal government, the mayor also announced another five-day furlough for city agencies - this time for managerial employees not represented by a union.
This will affect roughly 9,000 employees, but the mayor says it will save the city $21 million.
This comes after announcing a five-day furlough for himself and his staff last week.