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New York: Mario Cuomo and Bill de Blasio send NY and NYC on a forced break

Because of the coronavirus pandemic, all unnecessary businesses in the US state of New York are closed and gatherings are prohibited. New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the measures on Friday amid rapidly increasing numbers of infections. He urged all residents of the state and the metropolis of the same name to go out of their homes as little as possible. All are now in a kind of “quarantine”, said Cuomo.

Grocery stores and pharmacies, among others, are exempt from the business closure. Local public transport will not be stopped and food deliveries will remain, as Cuomo said. On New York’s Wall Street, the news caused renewed uncertainty: The Dow Jonesturned into the red again in the evening.

New York is on break”

So has Cuomo enacted the most extensive measures to date in the USA. All “non-vital” companies are only allowed to let their employees work from home and the approximately 19 million residents of the state should stay at home as much as possible, said Cuomo. The state is “on pause”. “These guidelines are enforced. These are not just helpful tips.”

Background for the drastic measures: Im In the state of New York, around 7,000 infections have now been counted – among other things because tests are now being carried out there on a large scale.

From Tuesday to Thursday alone, the number of detected infections more than quadrupled and was almost 4000. Because of the tests that were not carried out for a long time and Donald Trump’s poor crisis management, the number of unreported cases increased dramatically: Cuomo assumes tens of thousands of actual cases in the State off.

Also read: Trump wants Bayer drug “immediately” as possible

Requires 30,000 ventilators

Authorities had repeatedly warned that the capacities of the hospitals in New York were not even remotely prepared for the contagion of broad sections of society. The government expects the state to need 30,000 ventilators. At the moment there are only 5,000 to 6,000, said Cuomo. He sent employees to China to quickly buy new equipment.

With officially just under nine million inhabitants, New York is the largest city in United States of America
and one of the global economic and cultural centers. World-class museums such as the Museum of Modern Art and dozens of Broadway musicals or sights such as the Statue of Liberty have in some cases been closed for days – just like the schools for more than a million children. Now “the city that never sleeps” is given a compulsory break.

Finding medical personnel

In preparation for the dramatic increase in the number of critically ill patients, New York is now urgently seeking additional medical staff and planning to convert public facilities into emergency hospitals. Washington has already agreed to send a military hospital ship with around 1,000 cabins as support. Logistical help from the Army Corps of Engineers is also to come.

“It reminds me of September 11th,” said Cuomo. “This is a moment that will change your whole life.” New York has been significantly emptier than usual in the past few days. On Monday, the city had already announced the closure of restaurants, bars, cinemas and concert halls, among other things. Cafes and restaurants are still allowed to deliver food.

The measure was introduced after New Yorkers flocked to dinner or pubs over the weekend despite official warnings. In the past few days, public life went down bit by bit. Many New Yorkers already work from home. There was also an unusually large amount of space in Times Square and in the subway, and the mood was serious but calm.

Mayor de Blasio wants to tighten curfew

Mayor Bill de Blasio is still promoting further tightening and a curfew, as it already exists in San Francisco on the west coast. This would have to be decided by the state, Governor Cuomo but braked in the past few days and said that such a measure has not yet been planned.

The authorities expect gigantic damage to the local economy because of the standstill in New York and fear increasing hardship among the population. De Blasio had compared the possible dimensions with the Great Depression in the late 1920s. The New York City Transportation Corporation said they needed $ 4 billion. The number of customers had fallen by 90 percent in the regional trains and 60 percent in the subway


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