New York should be prepared should be prepared for an order, a drastic and unprecedented measure that would impose a blanket quarantine on 8.6 million New Yorkers in order to control the rapidly growing number of coronavirus cases in the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio has said.
The 'shelter-in-place' order, a blanket quarantine, will prohibit people from leaving their homes, except under "limited circumstances." Non-essential businesses across the state, including wineries and bars, will be closed. But essential services such as grocery stores, banks and pharmacies will remain open.
People who venture out are expected to remain six feet apart, wash their hands, cover their coughs or sneezes and follow a number of other restrictions.
"I want to talk about a question that's on everybody's mind, and that is the issue of shelter-in-place. This is a reality that is being talked about because this crisis continues to grow. We are all deeply concerned about the direction and the trajectory even as we get new information daily and hourly and we're trying to better understand the specific trajectory. It's quite clear this is a fast-growing crisis," de Blasio said in a news conference on Tuesday.
He said, even though a decision has not yet been made by the City or by the State, New Yorkers should be prepared right now for the "possibility of a shelter in place order. It has not happened yet, but it is definitely a possibility at this point. I believe that decisions should be made in the next 48 hours and it's a very, very difficult decision."
As the number of Coronavirus cases in the US grew to 5,726 with 107 deaths, six counties in California San Francisco, Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin, Contra Costa and Alameda Counties ordered nearly 7 million residents to 'shelter-in-place' on Tuesday.
A 'shelter-in-place' is among the tightest restrictions imposed to curtail the spread of the COVID-19.
The Mayor acknowledged that implementing such stringent measures like a virtual lockdown in a city like New York will be "particularly difficult" given its large population.
"But I think the point is come with that decision. We will be communicating closely with the State. Obviously, it's a decision we want to make in common.
On the possibility of a blanket quarantine or 'shelter-in-place' policy, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said "The emergency policies that have been issued are of statewide impact, and the Governor is making every effort to coordinate these policies with our surrounding states.
Any blanket quarantine would require the State action and as the Governor has said, there is no consideration of that for any locality at this time."
The Mayor underscored that the order will be a first in the history of New York City.
"We can all check our history and if anyone knows something jump on in. But we a lot of us have been doing this work a while and never heard anything even close to this. We're going to have to create it from scratch, if we do it.
He did not elaborate further about how such a measure will be implemented in the city and for how many days or weeks.
As of Tuesday, 814 New York City residents have tested positive for the deadly coronavirus and there have been seven deaths.
One of the most popular and populous cites in the world, New York has come to a grinding halt as government museums, tourist destinations, stores, bars and restaurants have been ordered shut to slow the spread of the virus. Schools and colleges in the state, as across the nation, have closed and companies have asked employees to tele-commute as authorities try to strictly implement social distancing.
The outbreak, which first emerged in China's Wuhan city last year, has marched across the globe, infecting 198,006 people and killing 7,948, according to a tracker maintained by the Johns Hopkins University.
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