■ New York orders all residents to stay home, bans gatherings.

California, Illinois also issue orders to fight virus spread

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York state and Illinois joined California on Friday in ordering all residents to stay in their homes unless they have vital reasons to go out, undertaking the most sweeping efforts yet in the U.S. to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

The governors of the three states acted in a bid to fend off the kind of onslaught that has caused health systems in Southern Europe to buckle. The lockdowns encompass the three biggest cities in America — New York, Los Angeles and Chicago — as well as No. eight San Diego and No. 14 San Francisco.

“No, this is not life as usual,” New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. “Accept it and realize it and deal with it.”

Cuomo said that starting 8 p.m. EDT Sunday, all workers in nonessential businesses must stay home as much as possible, and all gatherings of any size will be banned in the state of more than 19 million people. California likewise all but confined its 40 million residents Friday in the biggest lockdown in the nation.

Illinois Gov. J.B. Pritzker announced a similar order set to take effect on Saturday for the state’s 12.6 million people.

Cuomo said the “drastic action” was needed to check the rapid spread of the coronavirus virus in a state with more than 7,000 confirmed cases, the most in the nation. New York’s restrictions come a day after California decided to all but confine its population in the biggest lockdown in the U.S.

In all three states, exceptions were made for essential jobs and errands, such as grocery shopping and obtaining medicine, as well as for exercise.

New York officials said more than 1,200 people have already been hospitalized since the outbreak, and with more than 7,000 confirmed cases, the new restrictions are needed to keep the health care system from being overwhelmed. Johns Hopkins University put the state’s fatality count at 38.

Local officials could help enforce the rules and break up gatherings, according to Cuomo senior advisor Richard Azzopardi, though individuals won’t face fines.

The new restrictions were met with resignation by people across New York, where museums, clubs and restaurants are already shuttered and big gatherings were already prohibited.

“There’s a season for everything. And right now, the season is to just lay low, stop spreading this viral thing around,” said Eddy Dobosiewicz, of Buffalo, who just got a haircut before barbers close this weekend. “And then once that’s under control, I promise all we’re going to have a party.”

The order in New York tightens previous workfrom-home restrictions and exempts a long list of businesses as essential, including health facilities, utilities, airports, food makers, grocery stores, farms, convenience stores, laundromats, funeral homes and banks.

Cuomo said there will be fines and mandatory closure for any business not in compliance.

“These provisions will be enforced.” he said. “These are not helpful hints.”

Cuomo’s decision won strong backing from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s infectious disease chief and member of the White House coronavirus task force.

In California, normally congested freeways were largely free of traffic Friday, though lines snaked out of grocery stores and people hit the streets for fresh air after waking up to a new reality.

The announcement in California came after the release of a letter to President Donald Trump in which Newsom warned the virus was spreading quickly and eventually could infect more than half the state’s population. A spokesman later clarified that the figure did not take into account the aggressive mitigation efforts that have been made.

The governor said he doesn’t expect police will be needed to enforce his stay-at-home order, saying “social pressure” already has led to people keeping their distance from one another.

“I don’t believe the people of California need to be told through law enforcement that it’s appropriate just to home isolate,” he said.

The Democrat who is barely a year into his first term also called up 500 National Guard troops to help distribute food. The move comes after panicbuying led to massive lines at some grocery stores.

There are at least 1,030 confirmed cases in California and 18 people have died, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.

Newsom said the restriction is “open-ended” because it could raise false hopes if he included an end date.

However, he did offer a glimmer by saying he didn’t expect it would last “many, many months.”

BENNETT RAGLIN/GETTY New York Governor Andrew Cuomo speaks during his daily news conference amid the coronavirus outbreak on Friday in New York City.