The governor of NY, Andrew Cuomo, announced Tuesday the imposition of a “containment area” of a kilometer and a half in the north of the municipality of New Rochelle, in the New York county of Westchester, where is the largest “focus of infection in the country” of coronavirus and where he has already sent the National Guard.
“It is a dramatic action, but it is the main focus of the country and it is a matter of life or death”Cuomo said at a press conference, in which he indicated that the measure will take effect on March 12 and will end on the 25th of this month.
During these two weeks, schools, large stores and places where large groups of people can gather will be closed, said Cuomo, adding that he will deploy the National Guard to assist in the work of containment, cleaning and treatment of the coronavirus.
Until now, 108 cases of contagion of COVID-19 have been detected in this municipality.
New Rochelle “is the biggest health challenge we currently have in the state and we need a special strategy,” said the governor before explaining that the National Guard troops will be responsible, among other things, for providing assistance to citizens, Deliver food and help with disinfection.
“Cleaning the surfaces (which may be contaminated by the coronavirus) is very important,” he said.
Cuomo also announced the installation of an analysis laboratory in the area to prevent residents from using public transport services. New Rochelle is less than 30 minutes by train to New York City.
The governor said federal authorities have allowed the Northwell Health private medical center to perform automatic coronavirus screening at its facilities, which will greatly increase the number of tests that can be performed daily.
On the other hand, Cuomo reported that the number of cases throughout the state has risen to 173 in the last hours, so there are 31 cases more than yesterday Monday.
A total of 108 infected people are located in Weschester County, where New Rochelle is, another 36 in New York, 19 in Nassau, 6 in Rockland, 2 in Saratoga and 1 in both Suffolk and Ulster counties.
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