December 17th, a rare blizzard in the northeast of the United States has lasted for two days and has killed four people. A report released by the National Weather Service shows that the blizzard has covered the northeast region from North Carolina to New England, affecting up to 60 million people.
Among them, the capital Washington, New York, New Jersey and Virginia were the hardest hit. The strong wind and heavy snow pose a threat to the safety of the people and make the prevention and control of COVID-19 more difficult.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio: This may be the biggest snowstorm in years.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker: We haven’t experienced this level of blizzard in a long time.
According to U.S. media reports, so far, the blizzard has killed at least four people in traffic accidents, about 80,000 families have lost power, and more than 600 flights have been cancelled. The slippery road caused by snow also caused a large number of traffic accidents.
New York City police received more than 200 traffic accidents in a day, including 27 cars crashing and seriously injuring 6 people. In addition, the situation of more than 4,000 homeless people in New York City has also caused great concern, and local governments have been called upon to take measures to help them.
The blizzard has also brought greater challenges to the already severe prevention and control of the COVID-19 epidemic. At least eight states, including Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania, have been forced to close a number of coronavirus testing centers.
In addition, the COVID-19 vaccination work that just began this week has also been affected. Twelve hospitals in Pennsylvania, which were scheduled to vaccinate the first group of medical staff on the 17th local time, are now expected to be postponed due to bad weather.
