Hard hit New York City begins reopening as coronavirus infection rate plummets

Exactly 100 days after the first coronavirus case was confirmed in New York City, some workers began returning to jobs on Monday at the start of reopening from a citywide shutdown to battle the epidemic that killed nearly 22,000 of its residents. "This is clearly the hardest place in America to get to this moment because we're the epicenter," Mayor Bill de Blasio told a news conference at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. New York, by far the hardest-hit U.S. city, on Monday reported the rate of people testing positive for the coronavirus fell to a new low of 3%, well below its threshold for reopening of 15%, de Blasio said.