NYC adds testing; no decision on Times Square New Year’s Eve

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City officials say they’re opening more COVID-19 testing sites and restricting visitation at city-run hospitals and jails. Mayor Bill de Blasio said Wednesday (Dec. 22, 2021) that no decision had been made to ban people from the annual New Year’s Eve celebration in Times Square even as Fox said it was canceling its live broadcast because of concerns about the omicron variant. There were more than 13,700 positive tests in the city Monday (Dec. 20), a massive surge from just a week before. De Blasio says the city is opening seven additional testing sites on Wednesday. He also says it will set up five distribution sites on Thursday (Dec. 23) to hand out at-home rapid COVID-19 tests.