Shutterstock
The coronavirus pandemic has brought New York to a standstill. On Friday, March 20, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that 100 percent of the “non-essential” workforce must remain home for the foreseeable future.
“will sign an Executive Order mandating that 100% of workforce must stay home, excluding essential services,” Cuomo announced. “This order excludes pharmacies, grocery stores, and others.”
The lockdown comes after cases in New York City continue to soar.
There are currently more than 7,100 reported cases across the state — more than 4,400 are in New York City.
“We have to do it, we have to be serious,” Cuomo told reporters, via the New York Post. “Everyone has personal freedom and everyone has personal liberty and I’ll always protect that.” “But everyone also has a responsibility to everyone else
The restrictions will go into place on Sunday night:
- Shut down all non-essential businesses across the state, leaving just grocery stores, pharmacies and other essential operations open;
- Ban all non-solitary outside activity, like outdoor basketball games and other team sports;
- Require all non-essential government and private sector employees work from home
The coronavirus outbreak has led to the cancellation or postponing of many large events including the NCAA Tournament, Coachella, SXSW, the Winter X Games, Stagecoach, Ultra Music Festival in Miami, and more. The NBA, NHL, and MLS have temporarily suspended their seasons.
The coronavirus mainly comes from animals and a majority of those who were infected early either worked at or frequently visited the Huanan seafood wholesale market in Wuhan, according to The Guardian. The virus is similar to Severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome (Mers).
The Wuhan coronavirus is transmitted from person to person through “droplet transmission.” That means an infected person can pass the virus by sneezing or coughing on another person as well as by direct contact.
While a majority of the cases have been detected in China, it has now reached many countries around the world including the United States. It has also been confirmed in Italy, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and many other eastern countries.
