NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday he is sending the National Guard to help clean public spaces and deliver food in New Rochelle which is at the center of the nation's biggest known cluster of coronavirus cases.
New York state has 173 coronavirus cases -- Westchester County has 108 of those cases. Cuomo noted that there have been no deaths in the state, while Washington has had 22 coronavirus related deaths. As for New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said the city has 36 confirmed cases.
Cuomo said three schools and other gathering places will be shut down for two weeks in a containment zone in New Rochelle. The zone will extend a mile in all directions from a synagogue connected to some of the infections, officials said. The troops will help scrub public places and feed people quarantined at home.
Officials would not say how many National Guard members would be involved, and there was no immediate sign of any troops on the streets. Apart from those who are under quarantine, residents and visitors to the community of 79,000 will be able to come and go freely, with no checkpoints set up, and businesses can remain open.
"It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country," Cuomo said. "The numbers are going up unabated, and we do need a special public health strategy."
On other fronts in the battle to stop the virus from spreading, more schools and universities sent students home, conferences and other events were canceled, and the United Nations announced it would close its New York headquarters to the public and suspend all tours.
On Wall Street, stocks surged Tuesday after suffering staggering losses the day before, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 1,100 points on hopes the Trump administration would take steps to cushion the economy from the damage caused by the outbreak.
De Blasio said Tuesday that the two health workers that tested positive for coronavirus after visiting Iran are now asymptomatic and awaiting for their results to come back negative for them to be able to come out of quarantine.
De Blasio also announced eight new cases: Of those eight cases, two are in the Bronx and are related to the Westchester cluster.
One patient is a 7-year-old Bronx girl, who attends Westchester Torah Academy, which has been closed since the New Rochelle case emerged, de Blasio said.
She is doing well and quarantined with her family, who have tested negative, de Blasio said.There are two new Manhattan cases including Port Authority executive director Rick Cotton, who is working from home.
He added that the city is testing hundreds of cases per day and as of Tuesday morning, there were 195 pending tests, as well as 30 patients in mandatory quarantine and 1,980 in voluntary quarantine.
In Nassau County, two school bus drivers tested positive for coronavirus on Tuesday, according to Nassau County Executive Laura Curran.
There are now 19 people that have tested positive in Nassau County, including the two bus drivers, who drive small school buses Curran said during a briefing.
So far, 10 tests results are pending and there are 72 people in mandatory quarantine Curran added.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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