By Clayton Guse, Chelsia Rose Marcius and Denis Slattery
Tribune News Service
NEW YORK — All movie theaters, gyms, bars and restaurants will close in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut at 8 p.m. until further notice to help curb the spread of coronavirus, the governors of each state said Monday.
The move came as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced there are nearly 1,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Empire State — along with a total of seven deaths.
“We have agreed to a common set of rules that will pertain in all of our states — so don’t even think about going to a neighboring state because there’s going to be a different set of conditions,” Cuomo said of the three-state ban. “I believe we’re the only region in the country that has done this.”
“I think the federal government should have set up a uniform set of rules, so, absent that, regional coordination is imperative,” he added.
Cuomo said crowds of over 50 people will also be banned in all three states. Restaurants can remain open for take-out and delivery only — and the state is allowing eateries to include booze in to-go orders.
Otherwise, only facilities deemed “essential” will remain open, a list that includes grocery stores, gas stations, pharmacies and hospitals.
New York schools will be shuttered for at least two weeks statewide and the city, Nassau, Suffolk, Westchester and Rockland Counties must have state-approved educational and meal programs in place by midnight.
The three-state shutdown comes a day after New York Mayor Bill de Blasio moved to close city schools, ban eat-in service at city bars and restaurants and shut down all nightclubs, movie theaters and concert venues in the five boroughs effective 9 a.m. Tuesday.
Cuomo’s announcement moves forward that cut-off to Monday evening.
“The faster and better societies close down, the sooner they reopen,” Cuomo said.
De Blasio on Sunday also announced the city’s schools will close until further notice, with some campuses reopening March 23 for children of health care professionals, first responders, transit workers and vulnerable families.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said he would also announce a plan to close schools in his state later on Monday. Murphy has also discouraged all non-essential, non-emergency travel in the state between 8 p.m. and 5 a.m.
Following the success of a drive-through coronavirus testing facility in the Westchester County city of New Rochelle, one of the highest cluster areas in the country, similar testing sites will soon be set up in Staten Island, Long Island and Rockland County. In all, New York has tested roughly 7,000 people for the potentially deadly disease, Cuomo said.
Other measures the state is taking to combat the spread of the respiratory illness include waiving fees at all state and local parks. All local governments must also reduce their workforce by 50% and Cuomo called on non-essential private businesses to do the same, if possible.
The governor also wants all police and EMS personnel in the state to be equipped with face masks. Cuomo’s biggest concern remains the number of hospital beds in the state as he issued an executive order Monday calling on the National Guard to work with building unions and private developers to find existing facilities, such as dormitories and former nursing homes, that can most easily be converted to medical facilities, with the goal of creating an additional 9,000 beds.
The governor has repeatedly called on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to aid in transforming buildings across the state into hospital facilities, saying the current healthcare system will soon be overwhelmed by the number of people needing beds and ventilators as the coronavirus spreads.
“Our primary goal right now is to slow the spread of this virus so that the wave of new infections doesn’t crash our healthcare system, and everyone agrees social distancing is the best way to do that,” Cuomo said.
Currently, 158 people have been admitted to hospitals for coronavirus in the state.