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Mayor Bill de Blasio announces NYC to fully reopen on July 1

Bill de Blasio
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New York City is planning to reopen businesses on July 1 fully.

Mayor Bill de Blasio said this morning stores, offices, and theaters would be operating at normal capacity.

During an interview with MSNBC's "Morning Joe," de Blasio said they "are ready for stores to open, for businesses to open." de Blasio added that offices and theaters would be able to operate at "full strength."

New York City was once the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S. The city has had restrictions in place for more than a year.

According to the city's health department, more than 920,000 residents had confirmed or probable coronavirus cases, more than 100,000 were hospitalized, and more than 32,000 people died.

But now, the city is seeing high vaccination rates and lower hospitalizations

De Blasio said as of Thursday, and the city had recorded 6.3 million vaccinations with a population of about 8.3 million.

The mayor's announcement comes one day after Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that beginning May 3, people would be allowed to sit at bars in the city.

Jay Strubberg and Eliana Moreno at Newsy first reported this story.