De Blasio ramps up city COVID testing amid ‘very substantial’ increase in cases

Mayor Bill de Blasio on Thursday announced a new set of precautionary measures aimed at reducing the spread of COVID-19 amid a “very substantial” increase in virus cases in recent days.

During a press conference in Prospect Park, the mayor rolled out a six-part plan that includes increasing the number of testing sites in the Big Apple and distributing KN95 masks to New Yorkers.

“We have seen very substantial increases COVID cases in the last few days,” he said Thursday afternoon. “It is clear that the Omicron variant is here in New York City in full force.”