The politicians in New York were encouraging people to go out even up to mid March.
It was January 31st when Trump restricted travel from China.
But for weeks, city officials discouraged New Yorkers from altering their routines or behaviors, before the contagiousness of the coronavirus and severity of the outbreak became painfully clear. Public officials’ insistence that life could and should go on as normal for most city residents continued all the way into mid-March — probably exacerbating an already-threatening situation.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2020/03/the-timeline-of-how-bill-de-blasio-prepared-new-york-city-for-the-coronavirus/
