The first case of the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City was confirmed on March 1, 2020, though later research showed that the novel coronavirus had been circulating in New York City (NYC) since January, with cases of community transmission confirmed as early as February. By March 29, 2020, over 30,000 cases were confirmed, and New York City had become the worst-affected area in the United States. There were over 2,000 deaths by April 6, 2020; at that stage, the city had more confirmed coronavirus cases than China, the UK, or Iran. Bodies of the deceased were picked up from their homes by the US Army, National Guard, and Air National Guard.
Starting March 16, 2020, New York City schools were closed. On March 20, 2020, the New York State governor's office issued an executive order closing "non-essential" businesses. The city's public transportation system remained open, but service was substantially reduced. By April 2020, hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers were out of work, with lost tax revenues estimated to run into the billions of dollars. Low-income jobs in the retail, transportation, and restaurant sectors were especially affected. Over the course of the year, average residential and commercial rents both declined more than 10% in Manhattan, and vacancies surged.
The first phase of reopening began in June 2020 with reduced occupancy ceilings. Schools reopened in September. The police department was ordered to enforce public health measures and conduct emergency inspections at private schools. Spikes in infection rates were observed in some neighborhoods, prompting tighter restrictions in ZIP codes that were identified as "cluster" areas. Public schools were closed again to in-person learning in November, as the seven-day rolling average positivity rate continued to rise over 3%. Indoor dining was suspended again on December 14, 2020. COVID-19 vaccinations began at nursing homes on December 21. Public health researchers estimated that 44% of all metro New York residents had been infected by December 31, 2020.
Face masks in public areas were mandated throughout New York State by an executive order on April 15, 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic is one of the deadliest disasters by death toll in the history of New York City. As of August 19, 2023, the city's confirmed COVID-19 deaths exceeded 45,000 and probable deaths exceeded 5,500.
As of September 15, 2023, when the NYC Health Department stopped reporting new COVID-19 vaccination data, New York City had administered 19,849,266 COVID-19 vaccine doses.
Timeline
2020
The first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in New York State on March 1, 2020, in a 39-year-old health care worker who had returned home to Manhattan from Iran on February 25. Genomic analyses suggest the disease had been introduced to New York as early as January, and that most cases were linked to Europe, rather than Asia. A Queens man contracted COVID-19 via community transmission in late February, falling ill on February 29.
On March 3, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that the first recorded case of person-to-person spread in New York State had been confirmed via a New Rochelle man who was working at a law firm within One Grand Central Place in Midtown Manhattan. Six days later, on March 9, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that there were 16 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York City. Cuomo announced a New Rochelle "containment area" on March 10, and the World Health Organization declared a global COVID-19 pandemic on March 11.
The virus entered its exponential growth stage. At the time, the city's infection rate was five times higher than the rest of the country, and its cases were one-third of total confirmed US cases. The reasons for the high infection rate continue to be discussed. On March 27, Queens was the worst-affected borough by number of deaths, with over a third of total deaths.
The USNS Comfort hospital ship arrived in New York Harbor on March 30. Field hospitals were also set up in several places citywide. Refrigerator trucks were set up on city streets outside hospitals to accommodate the overflow of bodies of the deceased.
On April 4, President Donald Trump announced that 1,000 additional federal medical soldiers would be deployed to New York City. It was reported that "Urban Area Medical Task Forces" made up of army reservists would be working in the New York City field hospitals and other parts of the country. As of April 4, there were 1,200 medical military personnel serving on the USNS Comfort. 2,700 New York State National Guard forces had also been deployed.
On April 5, it was reported that a Malayan tiger at the already-closed Bronx Zoo tested positive for COVID-19. This was the first known case of an animal in the US (or a tiger anywhere) being infected with the disease. The tiger had started showing symptoms on March 27, including a dry cough, wheezing, and weakened appetite. The source of the infection was believed to be an infected zookeeper who was not yet showing symptoms. On April 22, it was reported that four additional tigers and three lions had tested positive.
By April 6, New York City had nearly 25% of the total deaths from COVID-19 in the U.S. During May, active COVID-19 cases started to decline. After the George Floyd protests in New York City started in late May, public officials expressed concern about the spread of COVID-19 via the crowded events.
On June 8, the city commenced the first phase of its reopening plan after meeting seven conditions of the stay-at-home order, which had been put in place three months earlier. On June 24, New York state, along with New Jersey and Connecticut, began requiring travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days if traveling from an area with high infection rates.
Plans to open indoor dining during the Phase 3 reopening were postponed due to the heightened risks posed by customers refusing to wear face masks and the uncertain role of air conditioning in COVID spread. Indoor dining in other states has resulted in superspreading at certain venues. To compensate in part, outdoor space was expanded by shutting down certain areas to create more space for outdoor dining. Plans to reopen museums in Phase 4 were also postponed.
On the nineteenth anniversary ceremony of the September 11 attacks at the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, the reading of names of victims, usually by family members, was instead recorded in advance. Mask protocols and social distance measures were also in place. The Tunnels to Towers foundation held a simultaneous memorial nearby at Zuccotti Park where around 125 family members took part in reading names.
In early October, the city was still in Phase 4 of reopening, which included museums, gardens, botanical gardens and gyms. Twenty ZIP Codes were identified as cluster areas. In response, the governor's office announced what they called "direct enforcement" of COVID-19 related restrictions in high-risk neighborhoods in Brooklyn and Queens. The mayor's office proposed closing businesses deemed "non-essential" and on-site dining. In-person schooling would have to shut down in nine ZIP Codes with 14-day positivity rates over 3%, while another eleven ZIP Codes were placed on a "watch list" because their positivity rates were 1–3%.
On October 6, Governor Andrew Cuomo introduced a "micro-cluster strategy". The new plan placed tighter restrictions in cluster areas with spikes in COVID-19 cases. The first areas to experience these new restrictions were parts of Brooklyn and Queens.
Public schools were closed indefinitely on November 19 after the rolling seven-day average reached 3%. Despite calls from health experts to close indoor dining before it was too late "to reverse the tide of new infections", the governor's office declined to impose restrictions until the statistical thresholds were met. The mayor's office took charge of closing schools only. Some epidemiologists and public health officials have criticized the decision to close schools, while allowing indoor dining to continue. The school-closure policy was partly reversed less than two weeks later, with de Blasio announcing that elementary schools would resume in-person learning from December 7. However, intermediate and high schools would remain closed through 2021.
COVID-19 vaccinations were authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on December 11. New York administered the vaccine first to health-care workers, and then to nursing-home residents starting December 21.
Public health researchers estimated that 44 percent of metro New York residents had been infected by December 31, 2020, based on a combination of virus testing, antibody testing, fatality counts, and population mobility data.
2021
On February 8, 2021, it was announced that public middle schools would reopen for in-person learning on February 25. On March 8, it was announced that public high schools would reopen for in-person learning on March 22. On April 29, de Blasio announced that New York City would fully reopen on July 1. By June, the city's overall testing positivity rate had reached its lowest since the pandemic began. Cuomo reopened the entirety of New York state on June 15, two weeks ahead of Mayor Bill de Blasio's planned July 1 reopening.
On July 7, 2021, the city held a "Hometown Heroes" ticker tape parade to honor healthcare professionals and essential workers for their work during the pandemic. The Uniformed Firefighters Association asked its members to boycott the event, however, saying that COVID-related risks to firefighters had not yet ended, citing the case of a union member who was in the intensive care unit (ICU) with COVID-related pneumonia at the time of the parade. The Uniformed EMS Officers Union also asked its members not to attend the parade due to an ongoing dispute with the city over a lack of hazard pay during the pandemic.
On July 23, 2021, the city's health department announced that daily average cases were 32% higher than the prior week and that the Delta variant had become the dominant COVID strain, accounting for 57% of citywide samples over a four-week period. On August 2, 2021, de Blasio recommended that vaccinated people wear masks in indoor settings, following CDC guidance and a continued uptick in positive COVID cases due to the Delta variant. The next day, it was announced that masks would be required indoors beginning August 16.
On August 3, de Blasio announced that New York City would become the first in the United States to require proof of vaccination for workers and customers at all indoor dining establishments, gyms, entertainment venues, and performances. As of August 16, patrons would be expected to show either their vaccination cards or one of two authorized vaccine passport apps: the city's NYC COVID Safe app or the state's Excelsior app. Enforcement of the requirement began in September.
Current
As of January 2026, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) continues to monitor SARS-CoV-2 through an integrated respiratory virus surveillance system. For the week ending January 17, 2026, laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases in the city were reported at low levels (approximately 1,000 cases), representing a decrease from the previous week's 1,300 cases, even as influenza activity remained high.
Government response
On March 2, 2020, de Blasio tweeted that people should ignore the virus and "go on with your lives + get out on the town despite Coronavirus." At a press conference the next day, New York City Commissioner of Health Oxiris Barbot said, "We are encouraging New Yorkers to go about their everyday lives." On March 4, she said, "There's no indication that being in a car, being in the subways with someone who's potentially sick is a risk factor." New York City Council members Robert Holden and Eric Ulrich wrote to Mayor de Blasio asking him to relieve Barbot of her position. (She ultimately resigned on August 4.)
On March 7, 2020, Governor Cuomo declared a state of emergency in New York State after 89 cases had been confirmed in the state, 70 of them in Westchester County, 12 in New York City, and 7 elsewhere.
On April 20, 2020, de Blasio announced that major events had been cancelled through June, including the Pride March and the Puerto Rican Day Parade.
On August 5, 2020, de Blasio announced that COVID-19 checkpoints would be set up at major crossings and tunnels to help enforcement of a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers from areas of a high transmission rate per Cuomo's order, in coordination with the New York's Sheriff department. Failure to comply with this order would result in fines ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 with de Blasio adding, "We're not going to let our hard work slip away and will continue to do everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy."
In preparation for the 2025–2026 respiratory virus season, the New York City Health Department transitioned to an integrated guidance model, recommending the updated 2025–2026 COVID-19 vaccine for all residents aged 6 months and older alongside seasonal influenza and RSV immunizations.
On October 3, 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul extended an Executive Order allowing New Yorkers to receive the updated 2025–26 COVID-19 vaccine without a prescription from a physician. This measure was designed to maintain low-barrier access to immunizations following federal changes to vaccine procurement.
In September 2025, New York City joined the newly formed "Northeast Public Health Collaborative," a partnership between several regional states and the city to coordinate public health data, strengthen vaccine supply chains, and streamline communication for respiratory virus monitoring.
Stay-at-home order
On March 14, 2020, before the statewide stay-at-home order (also known as the "New York State on PAUSE" executive order) was put in place, all New York Public Library branches in the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island were temporarily closed. The Queens Public Library and Brooklyn Public Library were also closed. Theaters, concert venues, and nightclubs in NYC were shut down starting March 17, and restaurants were restricted to take-out and delivery only. Schools were closed from March 16 until at least April 20. Gyms were closed as well.