At the outset de Blasio thought the virus was a kitchen fire, when it was already an inferno.

Times Square in New York, in March. Epidemiologists believe coronavirus did not gain steam until it entered New York from Europe in mid-February, when it spread fast through the tightly-packed city and across the US, New Yorkers who were not sick or vulnerable “should be going about your life”, said Mayor Bill de Blasio on March 11, as the city’s largest conference venue boasted about a “buzzing” coffee trade show. Within 17 days, the Javits Center would become a field hospital. He thought he was dealing with a kitchen fire and could knock it down with a hand extinguisher. But in reality it was through the walls and ducts . . . it was everywhere. There were already 10,000 cases of Covid in NYC.

Andrew Cuomo declared: “Excuse our arrogance as New Yorkers . . . [but] we don't even think it's going to be as bad as it was in other countries.”

De Blasio's excuse - he is just another politician,