New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has said that the city won’t get back to normal until July or August, amid the coronavirus pandemic.

On Thursday, New York governor Andrew Cuomo extended the stay-at-home order for the state until 15 March.

Mr Cuomo was unable to say what will happen once the extended order finishes, and said that “we will see depending on what the data shows.”

During an appearance on Fox News on Thursday, Mr de Blasio said he doesn’t think the city will be back to normal until July at the earliest.

He said that he didn’t want to give the people of New York false hope that they will be able to gather in large groups from 15 May onwards.

Loading....

Mr de Blasio said that if people obey the stay-at-home order, then it is possible that the city can go back to normal before the end of the summer.

“But the light at the end of the tunnel is later on in the summer, as we go into the fall, we can get it right. But [it will take] a lot of discipline,” he said.

Mr de Blasio added that “July, August are the months where we have to begin to get back to normal.”

Google’s dedicated coronavirus page shows that New York State has upwards of 222,284 confirmed cases and at least 14,636 deaths.