New York Lockdown: Another US State Shutdown due to COVID-19

New York Lockdown: Another US State Shutdown due to COVID-19
New York Lockdown: Another US State Shutdown due to COVID-19
Avatar of Linda Hohnholz
Written by Linda Hohnholz

“We’re going to close the valve, because the rate of increase in the number of cases portends a total overwhelming of our hospital system,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said as COVID-19 coronavirus cases in the state climbed to more than 7,000 and the death toll reached at least 38.

New York state is confining nearly all residents to their homes, as the Governor undertook his most sweeping efforts yet to contain the coronavirus and fend off the kind of onslaught of patients that has caused southern Europe to buckle.

Cuomo said that starting Sunday, all workers in nonessential businesses must stay home and all gatherings of any size will be banned in the state of more than 19 million people. The move came after California all but confined its 40 million residents in the biggest lockdown in the nation.

The increasingly drastic measures in the U.S. came as gasping patients filled the wards of hospitals in Spain and Italy, and the global death toll surpassed 10,000, with the virus still multiplying and gaining footholds in new corners of the world.

The World Health Organization noted the epidemic’s dramatic speed. “It took over three months to reach the first 10,000 confirmed cases and only 12 days to reach the next 100,000,” the U.N. health agency said.

Across the U.S., governors and public health officials watched the crisis from afar with mounting alarm and warned of critical shortages of ventilators, masks and other protective gear.

The U.S. readied military hospitals for civilian use, and more than 4,000 National Guard members were deployed in 31 states to help distribute food, scrub down surfaces and help in other ways.

The Trump administration warned Americans abroad to return home or risk spending an “indefinite” period away and said cross-border travel would be sharply curtailed but said trade would not be affected. And the income tax filing deadline was moved from April 15 to July 15.

In the U.S., Congress worked to put together a $1 trillion emergency package to prop up industry and small businesses and dispense relief checks of $1,200 for adults and $500 per child.

To date, 17,333 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in the United States, of which 218 have died.

About the author

Avatar of Linda Hohnholz

Linda Hohnholz

Editor in chief for eTurboNews based in the eTN HQ.

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