Coronavirus Testing Push Makes Yankees Fan Of De Blasio

NEW YORK CITY — The Yankees are doing their part to encourage New Yorkers to get tested for the new coronavirus.

In a news conference on Monday, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said the Yankees have donated team merchandise to be distributed to the first 1,000 people to get tested at NYC Health + Hospitals sites during "Testing Tuesday."

"Today I’m a Yankees fan because they’re doing something great to help us fight COVID-19," de Blasio said. "I want to thank the entire Yankees organization for stepping up."

De Blasio said the city offers free testing at hundreds of sites citywide. Residents can find testing sites near them online or by texting COVID TEST to 855-48.

"I have a line here that was written for me," de Blasio said during the conference. "It’s one of the cheesiest lines you’ve heard in a long time, but it says here: 'Now, because of the coronavirus, we are all on the same team.'"

The mayor said the city's success in controlling cases of the coronavirus lies in a commitment to science and flexibility.

"We have leaned on science, leaned on data, leaned on research; we believe those things matter here in NYC," he said. "That has been the basis of our strategy, and it’s worked. And it’s that willing ness to learn — to learn from both the mistakes and the smart moves made elsewhere — that has been an underpinning of everything that we’ve done here."

De Blasio announced 66 more people have been hospitalized with suspected cases of COVID-19 as of Monday. The city also reported 239 new cases of the virus on Monday with a citywide testing positivity rate of 2.05 percent.