The show will go on! Mayor Bill de Blasio says he expects Broadway shows will return in fall as NYC prepares to set up vaccine sites specifically for theater workers

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Mayor Bill de Blasio has projected that Broadway shows will be back in business by the fall in yet another sign that New York City is on the mend after a crippling year of shutdowns during the coronavirus pandemic. 

De Blasio unveiled the city's weeks-long plan to enable productions for the first time since Broadway was shuttered on March 12, 2020, at a press conference on Thursday. 

The plan includes opening a vaccination site for theater workers on Broadway in April, as well as a mobile unit for off-Broadway workers.  

The city will also install pop-up COVID-19 testing sites around Manhattan's theater district and is working on plans for crowd control before and after shows.  

'It's time to raise the curtain and bring Broadway back,' de Blasio said. 

'We've got to lay the groundwork for a strong comeback for Broadway and off-Broadway. Our theater community needs it. ... our city needs it, too. It's part of our identity.'

Mayor Bill de Blasio projected that Broadway shows will be back in business by the fall as he announced New York City's plan to make it happen on Thursday

Broadway has been closed down since March 12 of last year. Pictured: The sidewalk outside the Winter Garden Theatre empty in September in the absence of Broadway fans

The mayor was joined at the press conference by Tony Award-winning actor Andre De Shields, whose starred in many major shows including Hadestown, Ain't Misbehavin', Play On! and the title role in The Wiz. 

'Broadway is the cultural spine of this city,' De Shields said. 

De Blasio's announcement was celebrated by members of the theater industry and Broadway fans alike.  

'Today's announcement is an important recognition from the City of New York that a strong theatre industry means a healthy, strong economy,' Mary McColl, executive director of Actors' Equity Association, said in a statement.

'Mayor de Blasio clearly understands that we cannot socially distance in our work, making the availability of vaccines and testing critical for maintaining a safe workplace. 

'We have been having conversations with the Mayor's Office of Media and Entertainment about safety on a regular basis throughout the pandemic. It is clear that we were heard and the city is pushing forward-looking policy changes that will serve the entire theatrical community. We are grateful for the leadership of Mayor de Blasio.' 

De Blasio's announcement was celebrated by members of the theater industry and Broadway fans alike. Pictured: Performers participate in 'We Will Be Back', a live pop-up event and commemoration of Broadway's 'lost year' at Time Square on March 12, 2021

However the announcement has the potential to worry some public health experts who have been warning that the city's reopening efforts are moving too quickly amid fears over a virus variant believed to have originated in the Big Apple.  

Alarm over the NYC variant, officially called B.1.526, was first sounded last month. It is thought to have arisen in November in a severely immunocompromised COVID-19 patient in Washington Heights, a neighborhood of upper Manhattan. 

Nearly half of the most recent batch of samples tested for mutations in New York were positive for the B.1.526 variant, according to tracking from Outbreak.info - but this is only a rough estimate of the real prevalence. 

The tracker estimates that the variant has been detected in 36 states and accounts for about two percent of US infections and one percent of worldwide infections. 

A sharp rise in its prevalence in New York since last month suggests the variant may well be more infectious than the older 'wild-type' virus that's still dominant in the US, as do the mutations B.1.526 carries. 

It has several mutations to the infectious spike protein that lets coronavirus break into human cells and nine additional mutations elsewhere in its genome. 

Much is still unknown about the variant, but early tests suggest it may weaken antibodies' effects, which could mean COVID-19 survivors and vaccinated people are not well protected against B.1.526.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) consider B.1.526 a 'variant of interest,' but it does not yet rise to the level of 'concern,' like the UK, South African, Brazilian and Californian variants. 

So far, the variant does not appear to make patients any sicker or any more likely to die of COVID-19.  

The share of daily coronavirus samples that test positive for the B1256 variant in New York has shot up dramatically over the last month 

The B.1.526 variant has been detected in 36 US states and 13 other countries

As of Thursday New York City's test positivity rate stood at 4.4 percent while the weekly average for the past four weeks stood at 6.51 percent.  

Twelve zip codes in the city currently have positivity rates above 10 percent - down from 25 exceeding that level at the start of the week. 

New York City added 16,715 new cases on Wednesday, bringing the total to date to over 816,300. Deaths rose by 229 on Wednesday for a total of nearly 30,800. 

At Thursday's press conference de Blasio also announced that the city's Open Streets initiative, which saw parts of hundreds of roads closed to cars to allow more space for social distancing, will be permanent. 

It came after 63 community groups penned an open letter to the mayor asking to extend and expand the initiative.  

Twelve zip codes in the city currently have positivity rates above 10 percent - down from 25 exceeding that level at the start of the week