Coronavirus: New York state deploys National Guard troops to create containment zone around largest US cluster
- Schools, religious institutions and other gathering places within 1.6km (one-mile) radius to be shut down; public spaces to be cleaned
- New York City suburb of New Rochelle is at centre of outbreak of 108 cases, out of 173 statewide
The National Guard will be sent to New Rochelle, New York, to help close large, public gathering spaces in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus outbreak in the New York City suburb, Governor Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference on Tuesday.
Referring to the 1.6km (one-mile) radius area in New Rochelle as a containment zone, Cuomo said the effort would focus on places where large numbers of people congregate, such as schools, social clubs and places of worship. It would not necessarily include restrictions on movement, he said.
“You’re not containing people, it’s facilities,” Cuomo said.
“It’s a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country,” the New York governor said.
The shutdown will permit National Guard troops to clean public spaces. They will also be used in Westchester County to deliver food to quarantined households, he said.
“We are closing the large gathering places, schools, around this cluster,” Cuomo told reporters in Albany, the state’s capital. “This is a true geographic cluster.”
