Cuomo: New Rochelle put on 2 weeks of containment

ALBANY, N.Y. — New York National Guard troops were deployed to a Health Department command post in New Rochelle early Tuesday as Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said a one-mile radius in that community will be subjected to a twoweek containment, including closing of public gathering facilities.

The containment effort, including closing schools and colleges, is scheduled to begin Thursday and continue through March 26. The Westchester County city has 108 of the state's 173 confirmed cases of the illness, which Cuomo said is the nation's current hot spot and that requires special mitigation efforts. Fourteen individuals with coronavirus in the state are hospitalized.

"New Rochelle is a particular problem; it's what they call a cluster," Cuomo said the one-mile radius is centered around the area where the first cases had been discovered in that community — involving a 50-year-old attorney and his family — nearly two weeks ago.

The New Rochelle outbreak has been linked to two cases involving Westchester County residents who work in Connecticut hospitals. One woman is an employee at Danbury and Norwalk hospitals and the other is a doctor at Bridgeport Hospital.

The deployment of National Guard troops, who will assist with food deliveries to people quarantined in their residences, came as Chinese Premier Xi Jinping visited Wuhan, the city where the outbreak began, and has declared that China has gained control of the flu-like virus. But New York and other states are still in the throes of the battle with coronavirus, with many colleges across the state extending break periods or setting in motion plans to have students participate in classes remotely.

"This is an evolving situation," state Health Department Commissioner Howard Zucker said of the situation in New Rochelle. "We have moved from a containment strategy to more of a mitigation strategy . ... We felt that a radius of a mile from that spot would be effective."