By Hanna Park
(NEW YORK) New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday that the city will host a ticker tape parade on July 7 to honor health care workers, first responders and essential workers in the first official parade since the coronavirus pandemic began.
The announcement comes as the city prepares to fully reopen on July 1. The parade will include floats and groups of essential workers marching along the Canyon of Heroes through downtown Manhattan, per CNN.
"[T]he first true large parade in New York City will be one to celebrate the heroes of the fight against COVID, our health care heroes who were extraordinary and need to be remembered for the ages, our first responders, our essential workers, the people who kept us alive, that people who kept the city going no matter what," said de Blasio.
"No one is going to ever forget those we lost and what families are still going through. But we need a day to celebrate the heroism of everyday New Yorkers,” he added.
According to de Blasio, nearly 8.8 million vaccine doses have been administered in the city so far. New York City reported a coronavirus positivity rate of just 0.59% – setting a new record for the lowest rate. Now, about 65% of adults have had at least one shot, and the average daily deaths have dipped to the single digits.