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Life in the Time of the Coronavirus
New York Won’t Return to Normal Anytime Soon
New York City Council member Mark D. Levine wants to prepare the public for a new way of life
Life in the Time of the Coronavirus is a GEN series where we are interviewing people across the country who have had their lives upended or are experiencing the stress of the unknown.
Mark D. Levine, chair of New York City Council’s health committee, was a vocal and early advocate for implementing social distancing measures in the city. His Twitter feed has become a must-read for anyone interested in staying abreast of developments in the city. He and his wife were sickened by presumed Covid-19 during the height of the pandemic and have since recovered.
We can say with the certainty of hindsight that, yes, we should have shut New York City down quicker. I think all of us were slow in reacting to this threat in one way or another. I may have been a little earlier than others to call for a shutdown, but now I’m mostly focused on the ongoing crisis and the ways we’re not ready for the next step. I’m not spending as much time looking backward.
At the moment, we are probably at the apex of the pandemic in New York City, though the data’s somewhat mixed. It…
