New York Becomes COVID-19 'Hotspot'... 1-Mile Lockdown for 2 Weeks

Lockdown of Neurocell and Deployment of National Guard... Washington State Leads in Confirmed Cases Race

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondent Baek Jong-min] New York, USA has become a 'hotspot' for the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19). Despite the state declaring a state of emergency last week, the speed of virus spread in New York State is alarming, with 31 new confirmed cases increasing overnight. In terms of the number of confirmed cases, it is now competing for first and second place with Washington State, which recorded the highest number of deaths in the US.

On the 10th (local time), New York State took extraordinary measures by locking down New Rochelle, a suburb unfamiliar to us, and deploying the National Guard. As of that day, there were 173 confirmed cases in New York State, of which 108 patients were from Westchester County, where New Rochelle is located. Because of this, all buildings including schools in this area were temporarily closed.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the plan to deploy the National Guard and designated a so-called 'containment zone' with a radius of 1 mile (1.6 km) centered around a local Jewish synagogue. The lockdown of New Rochelle will be carried out for two weeks from the 12th to the 25th. During this period, the National Guard will be deployed there to conduct quarantine activities and deliver daily necessities to those in isolation.

New York is being closely watched by the US government due to its symbolic status as the center of not only the US but also the global economy. Especially on the morning of the 10th, the total number of infections in the state temporarily surpassed Washington State's 167 cases, reaching 173. On the same day, after a school bus driver in Nassau County, another area in New York State, was confirmed infected, schools in the area were successively closed. Columbia University in New York City also closed after a confirmed case was reported.

As the increase in confirmed cases in New York shows no signs of stopping, the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in Manhattan, New York City, decided to prohibit general public visits and suspend tour programs starting that night to block COVID-19. Financial firms on Wall Street located in New York are also scrambling to prepare measures such as introducing work-from-home policies to prevent the spread of infection.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on the day, "Since private laboratories in New York started COVID-19 testing last Friday, the number of patients in New York City has surged," adding, "The surge is beyond what authorities can keep up with."

In New Jersey, which shares the same living area as New York, a confirmed case was reported at Princeton University, and the first death occurred in the largest Korean community, leading the state to declare a state of emergency. It is also reported that another Korean tested positive for COVID-19 in this area.

According to Johns Hopkins University, as of 7 p.m. on the 10th (8 a.m. on the 11th Korean time), the number of COVID-19 patients in the US reached 959, including 28 deaths. The confirmed cases rapidly increased from 805 just a few hours earlier, making surpassing 1,000 a matter of time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.