New York’s governor announced Tuesday he is sending the National Guard to help clean public spaces and deliver food in a New York City suburb that is at the center of the nation’s biggest known cluster of coronavirus cases, as the battle against the U.S. outbreak intensified. The move came as health authorities contended with alarming bunches of infections on both coasts and scattered cases in between. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said three schools and other gathering places will be shut down for two weeks in a containment zone in New Rochelle, the epicenter of an outbreak of more than 100 cases. The zone will extend a mile in all directions from a synagogue connected to some of the infections, officials said. The troops will help scrub public places and feed people quarantined at home. Officials would not say how many National Guard members would be involved, and there was no immediate sign of any troops on the streets. Apart from those who are under quarantine, residents and visitors to the community of 79,000 will be able to come and go freely, with no checkpoints set up, and businesses can remain open. “It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country,” Cuomo said. “The numbers are going up unabated, and we do need a special public health strategy.” New Rochelle and surrounding Westchester County account for the majority of the state’s 173 coronavirus cases. New York City, with 100 times the population of New Rochelle, has 36 known infections. On other fronts in the battle to stop the virus from spreading, more schools and universities sent students home, conferences and other events were canceled, and the United Nations announced it would close its New York headquarters to the public and suspend all tours. On Wall Street, stocks surged Tuesday after suffering staggering losses the day before, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 1,100 points on hopes the Trump administration would take steps to cushion the economy from the damage caused by the outbreak. In Oakland, California, thousands of restless passengers who have been stuck aboard a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus waited their turn to get off the vessel and go to U.S. military bases or back to their home countries for two weeks of quarantine. “I’m bored and frustrated,” said Carolyn Wright, 63, of Santa Fe, New Mexico. “All of a sudden a two-week vacation has turned into a five-week vacation.” In Washington state, where at least 19 deaths have been connected to a single Seattle-area nursing home, Gov. Jay Inslee announced new nursing-home rules for screening health care workers and limiting visitors. “If we assume there are 1,000 or more people who have the virus today … the number of people who are infected will double in five to eight days,” he warned. In Kentucky, Gov. Andy Beshear said state-run nursing homes will severely restrict visitors, with private operators strongly urged to follow suit. Six cases have been diagnosed in the state. The virus has infected more than 800 people in the U.S. and killed at least 29, with one state after another recording its first infections in quick succession. New Jersey reported ts first coronavirus death Tuesday. Worldwide, nearly 120,000 have been infected and over […]
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