ALBANY, N.Y. — Schools, temples, churches and other large gathering places within much of the New York City suburb of New Rochelle will be shut down for two weeks as the state battles to contain of one of the nation’s worst coronavirus clusters.
The National Guard will be called in to help clean facilities and deliver food, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
Cuomo announced plans to enforce a “containment area” for a 1-mile radius around the center of the cluster, an area of Westchester County that includes much of the city of New Rochelle and stretches into the town of Eastchester. As of Tuesday afternoon, the state had 174 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, second only to Washington state.
“This is literally a matter of life and death,” Cuomo said.
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More than 100 cases are in Westchester County, tied to an Orthodox Jewish community where a lawyer was the first case in the region.
Any large gathering places, including several public schools, within the containment area will be closed from Thursday through March 25, the governor said. Residents who live within the containment area will be free to leave their homes and the area so long as they have not otherwise been ordered to quarantine, Cuomo added.
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