Contributed by Diamond Bullock
New York reportedly has the most confirmed coronavirus cases in the entire country with a total of 143. The confirmed cases are located in Westchester County, which has the majority, followed by New York City and Nassau County. Suffolk County has just confirmed its first case. A state of emergency was declared by Governor Cuomo this past Saturday.
Cuomo is taking as many safety precautions to keep the virus from spreading to more victims. Schools are closing to protect students and teachers; if any individual tests positive at a school, the school must be closed for at least 24 hours to decide on longer closure periods and to assess safety. Cuomo introduced the “New York State Clean Hand Sanitizer”, a free hand sanitizer that will be provided to schools, government agencies, and MTA prisons. According to CBS 2, 100,000 gallons was “made by prisoners through the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision” to combat the overpricing and shortage of hand sanitizer in stores across the state.
In New York City, Mayor Bill DeBlasio is taking his own additional precautionary methods against the virus. DeBlasio is suggesting to avoid large crowds, especially the MTA subway system. If there are other available methods of transportation for an individual, he/she should take advantage of it to protect his/herself from contamination. Every 72 hours, each individual train is disinfected to kill any potential virus. According to the New York Times, Columbia University, Fordham University, St. John’s University, Yeshiva University and New York University campuses have been closed and students have been informed that classes will be postponed or offered online. Other educational institutions are considering long-term online learning, although many students do not have Wi-Fi access outside of their schools.
The New York government has been slowly conducting testing while the number of cases increase due to lack of testing resources. Many people with potential coronavirus systems cannot afford to be tested efficiently due to lack of healthcare. DeBlasio is pleading for the U.S. government to provide New York City with automatic testing. However, DeBlasio assures New Yorkers that coronavirus is not as scary as it appears. On MSNBC’s “Morning Joe”, DeBlasio stated: “If we had universal health care, a hell of a lot more people would have been tested, a hell of a lot more people could have been saved.”
To see an updated map of the total number of cases in each of the affected states, see here.