Mayor Eric Adams tested positive for COVID-19 Sunday, and City Hall said he will cancel all public events for the week.
The announcement comes after hizzoner abruptly called off all in-person appearances scheduled for April 10, which also marked his 100th day in office.
“This morning, Mayor Adams woke up with a raspy voice and, out of an abundance of caution, took a PCR test that has now come back positive,” according to Fabien Levy, the mayor’s press secretary, in a statement issued at 1:46 p.m. on April 10. “At this time, the mayor has no other symptoms, but he is already isolating and will be canceling all public events for the remainder of the week. He is also going to immediately begin taking the anti-viral medications offered for free to New York City residents and encourages all New Yorkers eligible for these medications to take them as well.“While he is isolating, he will continue to serve New Yorkers by working remotely.”
COVID-19 cases have been on the rise across the Five Boroughs in recent weeks due to the highly contagious BA.2 variant.
Adams had planned to make several appearances Sunday, including a ribbon cutting to officially open Deno’s Wonder Wheel in Coney Island, but he abruptly called that off 20 minutes before the event was set to start.
Levy initially said that Adams had gotten a negative result from a rapid COVID test — which he gets daily — but was awaiting the more reliable PCR test to come back and had canceled his appearances “out of an abundance of caution.”
On Friday evening and all day Saturday, the mayor joined several events in person in Albany, according to his public schedule.
He went to the New York State Association of Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic, and Asian Legislators 51st Annual Legislative Conference on Friday, followed the next day by a workshop about the cannabis industry and three luncheons with CUNY, labor groups, and the Black sorority Alpha Kappa Alpha.
He also joined the now-notorious Gridiron Club dinner with Washington A-listers in the capital last week on April 2, which turned out to be a major spreader of the virus.
To date, 67 attendees, or 10%, at the white-tie bash have tested positive for the coronavirus, the Washington Post reports.
This story first appeared on our affiliate, amNewYork.
