Containment: New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo on Friday decreed all non-essential activities and a ban on all gatherings to deal with the coronavirus pandemic.
These measures, which will take effect on Sunday, are similar to those announced Thursday by California Governor Gavin Newsom, who placed the entire state in lockdown.
They are more restrictive than those announced so far at the federal level.
Andrew Cuomo’s seriousness contrasted with the tone adopted by Donald Trump, who indicated that a shutdown of the whole country was not on the agenda.
“I don’t think we’ll ever deem this necessary,” Trump said.
“It was done in California, it was done in New York, these are two hot spots (…) But if you go to the Midwest or elsewhere, they watch it all on television and don’t have the same problems”, he added.
Between California and New York, some 60 million people are now affected by mandatory containment measures.
“This is the most radical step we can take,” said the governor of New York State, while specifying that activities considered essential would not be affected.
He listed the food shops, pharmacies, cable operators, and everything related to community service, including water maintenance services or public transport, which will continue to operate.
Restaurants and food shops will continue to make deliveries.
“All in quarantine”
Any gathering of people unrelated to these essential activities is now prohibited, regardless of size, the governor announced.
Andrew Cuomo nevertheless indicated that individuals had the opportunity to leave their homes, to do their shopping or even to take the air, while urging them to respect the principle of social distancing and to stand at least two meters away. from each other.
If he threatened with fines businesses considered non-essential that would remain open, he did not, however, speak of tickets for recalcitrant individuals.
“We are all in quarantine”, hammered the first political leader of the State of New York, where the number of declared cases has experienced a marked acceleration in recent hours.
“This will have negative consequences for the economy,” admitted Andrew Cuomo, who said he accepted “full responsibility” for the decisions announced Friday.
The region recorded 2,950 new cases in 24 hours, including 1,939 in New York City alone, bringing the total to 7,102, including 4,408 in New York City. The balance sheet shows 35 dead.
Andrew Cuomo argued that this leap was largely due to the implementation of large-scale testing, on a scale greater than any other region in the United States, he said.
On Thursday alone, 10,000 people were tested, bringing the total to 32,427, according to figures released Friday.
Andrew Cuomo has renewed his appeal to all companies with artificial respirators and masks and not having essential use to offer them to the authorities, who will buy them back.
He also suggested to companies that had the capacity to start producing masks and gloves, which the state is also willing to buy, to prevent a shortage in health services.
New York Mayor Bill de Blasio on Friday again called for increased support from the federal government, especially for the delivery of masks and respirators to the most affected areas.
He accused Donald Trump of “minimizing the danger and refuses to implement the federal means” at his disposal. “People are going to die when it could be avoided.”
According to Johns Hopkins University, more than 14,600 cases of coronavirus have been identified in the United States, which has more than 200 deaths.
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