New York Creates ‘Containment Zone’ to Restrict Spread of COVID-19 in Westchester County
by Dan Clark • Published on March 10, 2020 • 0 Comments
Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks to reporters Tuesday, March 10, 2020.
Credit: Dan Clark
Health
New York state is enacting a one-mile “containment zone” in Westchester County to restrict further spread of the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, in the community of New Rochelle, which has become a national epicenter for the disease.
The so-called “containment zone” would prevent large facilities from holding mass gatherings, but wouldn’t restrict people from coming and going in the area, or leaving home.
Cuomo’s announcement came as the number of positive cases of coronavirus in New York climbed to 173, as of Tuesday afternoon. Of those cases, 108 have been found in Westchester County, with a concentration in New Rochelle.
“New Rochelle is a particular problem,” Cuomo said. “The numbers have been going up, the numbers continue to go up, the numbers are going up unabated. And we do need a special public health strategy for New Rochelle.”
The containment zone will be in effect from Thursday, March 12th to Wednesday, March 25th.
Cuomo said the National Guard is also being deployed to Westchester County in response to COVID-19. He said they’ll hand out food to individuals in quarantine and be tasked with cleaning affected areas.
Outside Westchester County, the highest number of COVID-19 cases has been found in New York City, which had 36 reported cases as of Tuesday morning. According to state data, 17 of those cases were new since the last round.
That’s followed by 19 total cases in Nassau County, six in Rockland County, two in Saratoga County, and one each in Suffolk and Ulster Counties.
The disease has, so far, had a significant impact on the country’s economy, with stocks tumbling Monday. A rebound is expected Tuesday, according to economic forecasters.
It’s unclear, so far, what kind of economic impact will be felt in New York from the disease. Part of the state’s revenues come from the stock market, and people out of work can cut into revenue from income tax.
New York had recently projected an additional $700 million in revenue that wasn’t expected earlier this year. Cuomo asked State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, Tuesday, to take a second look at the numbers and see how COVID-19 might change the projection.
“I’ve asked the comptroller of New York, Tom DiNapoli, to give me an opinion as to what consequences he might think this economic shutdown and the entire coronavirus situation will have on the state budget,” Cuomo said.
That analysis will likely play into negotiations on the state budget, which will happen behind closed doors between Cuomo and lawmakers over the next three weeks. The state budget is due at the end of March.
