NYC May 'Shelter in Place' as Virus Spreads, Mayor Warns

The mayor also announced that the city will be able to test 5,000 people per day for coronavirus, a huge increase from the current several hundred people per day.

And he decreed that alternate-side parking rules would be suspended for at least a week, a long-anticipated move.

The mayor’s announcement came just hours after Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that no mass quarantine measures were in the offing for New York City.

“It cannot happen,” Cuomo said. “No city in the state can quarantine itself without state approval, and I have no interest whatsoever and no plan whatsoever to quarantine any city.”

The mayor and the governor have been jockeying in recent days to get out in front of each other on announcing restrictions.

Cuomo said any move to a quarantine would be “statewide, comprehensive” but that no such move was in the works.

As of Tuesday, more than 1,500 people in New York state had tested positive for the virus, up from 950 the day before; 814 of the cases were in the city. Twelve people have died from the virus in New York state, including at least seven in New York City.

“We are certainly going to have thousands of cases next week,” de Blasio said. “It is not that long before we hit 10,000 cases; that is a true statement.”

A City Council member, Ritchie Torres of the Bronx, said Tuesday that he and a staff member had tested positive for the virus. Another Council member, Inez D. Barron, along with her staff, are in quarantine after her husband, Assemblyman Charles Barron, tested positive. Charles Barron is hospitalized but expected to be released soon.

The number of cases in New Jersey rose to 267 on Tuesday, up from 178 on Monday, with three deaths. In Connecticut, the count reached 41 confirmed cases, up from 26 on Sunday.

Cuomo said that the outbreak was projected to peak in 45 days, around May 1. At that point, he said, the state would need 55,000 to 110,000 hospital beds and 18,600 to 37,000 intensive care beds.

The peak will likely overwhelm New York’s health care system, Cuomo said: The state currently has about 53,000 hospital beds and 3,000 intensive-care beds. About 80% of the intensive-care beds are already occupied, he said.

City issues $275,000 in fines over suspected price gouging on high-demand items.

New York City has issued 550 violations totaling $275,000 in fines to retailers accused of price gouging on items in high demand during the coronavirus pandemic, the city said Tuesday afternoon.

On Monday, de Blasio announced that the city would issue tickets and fines to shops that charged excessive prices on a range of items in short supply, including hand sanitizer. Retailers cannot charge more than 10% greater than the item’s usual price, the city said.

The city said the fines were issued for high prices on three items: face masks, hand sanitizer, and disinfectant wipes. The 10% restriction will remain in place for at least two months.

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Authorities also inspected restaurants and bars Tuesday to make sure they were following restrictions that went in place in the morning that limits purchases to takeout or delivery only.

De Blasio did not disclose how many inspections had taken place so far but said that roughly 90% of the establishments were following the new rules. The others received warnings, he said.

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Crisis could cause economic fallout akin to the Great Depression, mayor warns.

De Blasio has, from the beginning of the coronavirus crisis, used great disasters of the past as reference points. On Tuesday, he warned New Yorkers to brace themselves for economic hardship like something out of the Great Depression.

Appearing on CNN, the mayor pleaded for the federal government to provide cash aid to people whose livelihoods have been affected, directly or indirectly, by the virus and said the city’s upended existence could last “well through the summer.”

“The federal government needs to put money back in the hands of people,” said the mayor, a second-term Democrat. “We need direct income replacement at this point.”

Restrictions on the city’s 25,000 restaurants, which are now allowed only to do takeout and delivery, will likely remain in place for months. “Thank God some people will still be employed,” the mayor said.

On Monday, after Cuomo waived the seven-day waiting period to apply for unemployment, the surge of new claims crashed the state Labor Department’s website. The agency said calls more than tripled from last Monday — a rush it likened to the aftermath of 9/11. (The website of New Jersey’s Labor Department experienced a similar crash.)

“This is a deep, deep economic hole,” Cuomo said. “You’ll have businesses closed that never reopen.”

Woman who tested positive in Newark gave false name, mayor says.

Mayor Ras J. Baraka of Newark, New Jersey, said in a video Tuesday that a woman who tested positive for the coronavirus at East Orange General Hospital had given a false name and address to doctors and vanished.

The test was administered Saturday, Baraka said. When authorities went to the address the woman had provided, they discovered that she did not live there.

“This woman is a public health risk to herself and to the entire community,” Baraka said. He asked the woman to return to the hospital or to contact her medical provider immediately.

The mayor said that his office, Essex County prosecutors and Newark’s public health department were seeking a court order to compel the hospital to turn over surveillance video and any information that might help locate the woman.

New York will open about 100 emergency child care centers next week.

New York City will open about 100 emergency child care centers across the five boroughs Monday, according to the city’s Department of Education. The centers will accommodate the children of emergency services workers, health care workers and transit workers who attend both public and private schools, as well as some other highly vulnerable students.

The sites will provide remote learning and meals for children age 3 through 18. Each room will have no more than 12 children and at least one adult to maintain social distancing.

All New York City public school students will switch to remote learning as of Monday, and children at the care centers will join the same online classes that their classmates from regular school are participating in.

The centers will be open from 7:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. and will serve three meals to students in their classrooms, rather than in cafeterias, to avoid crowding. All other children in New York under the age of 18 can pick up free food at about 100 other sites that will be identified later this week, for as long as schools are closed.

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New York City police have been asked to enforce the restrictions on restaurants.

People who defy emergency rules that ban eating at restaurants can expect a ticket and maybe even handcuffs.

The rules, outlined in an executive order that de Blasio signed Monday, limit food establishments to takeout and delivery.

The order, which also required gyms and entertainment venues like nightclubs and theaters to close, took effect at 8 p.m. Monday and was preceded with a directive from the governor that banned gatherings of 50 people or more in New York.

A police memo issued Monday advised officers who come across violations of the mayor’s emergency rules that they can order food establishments vacated and issue summonses to restaurant owners.

If owners refuse officers’ orders, they can be arrested.

Customers who refuse to leave can be given a ticket for disobeying a lawful order to disperse or arrested.

A city board urged a reduction in the jail population to contain the virus.

New York City’s Board of Correction on Tuesday called for the release of detainees at high risk for coronavirus and for a reduction of the city jail population, currently at more than 5,000 inmates.

The board urged jail officials to prioritize releasing those who have serious health problems, are over 50, are being detained on parole violations or are serving sentences under a year.

“The city must drastically reduce the number of people in jail right now and limit new admissions to exceptional circumstances,” the board wrote.

The board provides oversight over the jail system, which is run by the city Department of Correction. It cannot release prisoners.

The effort to reduce the jail population has been taken up by prosecutors. Brooklyn’s district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, said on Twitter that his office would stop prosecuting low-level offenses “that do not jeopardize public safety.”

Gonzalez asked defense lawyers to tell him of clients who “are vulnerable to infection and who we should consider releasing during this crisis.”

NYC nature centers close but parks and playgrounds stay open.

On Tuesday, all New York City recreation centers and nature centers were closed to the public until further notice. Parks and playgrounds remained open.

One caution: New York City does not regularly clean outdoor furniture and play equipment, and estimates on how long the coronavirus can survive on surfaces range widely, from minutes to days.

“We have not yet committed to changing our standard operations due to coronavirus,” said Meghan Lalor, a parks department spokeswoman, “but we will continue to monitor the situation.”

Dr. Sean O’Leary, an executive member of the American Academy of Pediatrics’ Committee on Infectious Diseases, said that playgrounds were “probably not the safest place right now.” He recommended going to large, wide-open parks when possible.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times .