New York once again finds itself at the center of a massive coronavirus outbreak

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has been promoting the return of New Year's Day celebrations to Times Square. But with COVID-19's Omicron variant spreading rapidly in the United States, de Blasio is now considering the possibility of canceling that celebration, NYC's Channel 4 is reporting.

Channel 4's Jennifer Millman explains, "Almost exactly one month after Mayor Bill de Blasio triumphantly announced tens of thousands of fully vaccinated people could return to Times Square to celebrate New Year's Eve in person this year, the state saw it's highest single-day reporting of new COVID infections. The previous record, set almost one year ago on January 14, crumbled when Gov. Kathy Hochul announced 21,027 new positive cases statewide."

That new number of infections, according to Millman is "more than 1000 over the last record."

When de Blasio was interviewed on CNN this week, he didn't say that the Times Square celebration was definitely canceled but said he will do so if he determines that it is necessary.

"Now we're going to reassess constantly with the new information," the outgoing New York City mayor told CNN. "We're going to follow the data and the science. Right now, it's on. You know, we'll make a decision as we go, get closer as to what should finally happen."

New Year's Eve will mark de Blasio's final night as mayor of New York City. The new Democratic mayor, former New York Police Department Capt. Eric Adams, will take office on January 1.