Covid-19 in the United States: giant concert in New York to celebrate the return to an almost normal life
On August 21, 60,000 people came to Central Park to celebrate New York's recovery after a year and a half of a pandemic.
© REUTERS - EDUARDO MUNOZ
Text by: RFI Follow
4 min
New York organized this Saturday a big concert on the lawn of Central Park.
A concert with thirty artists: Bruce Springsteen, Patti Smith, Paul Simon or Andrea Bocelli.
A concert to celebrate the "rebirth" of the city which was a year and a half ago the global epicenter of the Covid-19 epidemic.
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With our correspondent in New York
,
Loubna Anaki
From the first guitar notes, Carlos Santana draws the crowd away: 60,000 people came to Central Park to celebrate
New York's
recovery
after a year and a half of the pandemic: “I
missed the concerts.
And come back with a concert like that, it's great!
Paul Simon, Bruce Springsteen they are legends!
I am so happy !
Exclaims a woman in the audience.
“
Being like that, in the middle of the crowd, it's such a feeling of freedom!
Another woman in the crowd echoes.
Stay optimistic despite the Delta variant
Dubbed "We Love New York", the concert was announced when the city only had a few cases of Covid-19.
With the resumption of the epidemic due to the
Delta variant
, the party is a little mixed.
But New Yorkers want to remain optimistic: "
I hope this will not be the start of a new confinement, but that we can continue to party,
" explains a New Yorker.
“
After the year we have lived, the mourning, the pain, it's the best way to find ourselves and celebrate.
"
Since the start of the pandemic, New York has deplored more than 33,000 victims of Covid-19.
More than 68% of adults in New York City are fully vaccinated, but the number of infections has rebounded recently in the city with more than 1,800 cases daily, up 19% from the situation two weeks earlier.
A party cut short by the arrival of the rain
Only vaccinated people could have access to the concert.
One way for the city to encourage those who still resist getting vaccinated.
The party, which was to last five hours, was nevertheless cut short due to the rain which invited itself to New York.
"
Nature is unpredictable
" said Patti Smith who was to take the stage.
"
But that doesn't stop us from celebrating life,
" added the singer, illustrating the optimistic spirit of New York.
►
To read: Vaccines against Covid-19: the United States announces a recall campaign in September
(
with AFP
)
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