State of emergency in NY over COVID-19 outbreak

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has declared a state of emergency as the number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the northeastern state rose to 76.

At a press conference on Saturday, Cuomo said that New York City, the most populous metropolis in the country, has 11 cases, and Westchester county now has 57, an increase of 23 overnight, reports Xinhua news agency.

Long Island's Nassau county has four cases, while Rockland and Saratoga counties have reported two each.

All cases in Westchester were related to the state's second confirmed case, which involves an attorney who worked in Manhattan.

"Westchester is an obvious problem for us," the Governor said. "They talk about the contagion in clusters and the clusters tend to infect more and more people."

However, Cuomo repeatedly urged the public to stay calm, noting that about 80 per cent of the COVID-19 patients will self-resolve.

As to the 20 per cent who have to be hospitalized, Cuomo said most of them are senior citizens and those with underlying health issues.

"If you are a senior citizen or immune compromised, I would think seriously about attending a large gathering," he said, adding: "Now I've said that to my mother."

Meanwhile, the state has started aggressively testing residents, especially among suspected populations.

"The more tests, the better. The more positive you find, the better. Because then you can isolate them and you slow the spread," said Cuomo.

The state of emergency declaration will speed up the purchasing of supplies and the hiring of workers who could assist local health departments, especially in monitoring those who are self-quarantined, according to the governor.

Thousands in the state are currently under self-quarantine, including over 2,700 people in New York City. Many of them have just returned from a country or a region where there is a COVID-19 outbreak.

Cuomo urged those who are under voluntary quarantine to comply with specific rules, saying violating those rules is disrespectful to members of the community and may be putting people in danger.

The governor also warned businesses that price-gouging at a situation of emergency is not allowed.

"It is not worth it to the store owner. You can lose your license. And we are very serious about this," he added.

As of Saturday night, more than 420 cases of COVID-19 were reported in the US with 17 deaths, according to the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University. IANS