NY Coronavirus: 3/4 Workforce Stay Home; Mortgage Payments Waived

NEW YORK, NY — Three-fourths of non-essential New York employees will be told to work from home, and Gov. Andrew Cuomo said mortgage payments will be waived for 90 days for those with financial hardships as the state ramps up measures to mitigate the health and economic impacts of the new coronavirus.

The directive includes:

• Waiving mortgage payments based on financial hardship
• No negative reporting to credit bureaus
• Grace period for loan modification
• No late payment fees or online payment fees
• Postponing or suspending foreclosures

Cuomo announced the latest in a series of drastic measures Thursday, adding that overdraft fees on ATMs and credit cards will also be waived.

Essential services include industries such as shipping, media, warehousing, grocery and food production, pharmacies, health care providers, utilities, banks and related financial institutions, as well as other industries critical to the supply chain.

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"It will change almost everything going forward," Cuomo said on the virus's economic impact. "That is a fact. It's all of us and it's true."

Credit scores will not be impacted by nonpayment of mortgages and foreclosures will be indefinitely postponed, said Cuomo.

The executive order issued Thursday mandates businesses send no more than 25 percent of their workforce outside, with the remainder required to work from home.

Cuomo also asked anyone who can to voluntarily work from home. He said again that New York City should not expect a state-enforced lockdown.

"I would know because I would have to do it," Cuomo said. "There is no quarantine plan for New York City."

Cuomo confirmed there were more than 1,700 new cases, bringing the statewide total to nearly 4,200. Here's the geographic breakdown:

• Albany County: 43 (7 new)
• Allegany County: 2
• Broome County: 2 (1 new)
• Chenango County: 2 (1 new)
• Clinton County: 2 (1 new)
• Delaware County: 1
• Dutchess County: 31 (11 new)
• Erie County: 28 (21 new)
• Essex County: 1
• Fulton County: 1 (1 new)
• Genesee County: 1 (1 new)
• Greene County: 2
• Hamilton County: 2 (1 new)
• Herkimer County: 1
• Jefferson County: 1 (1 new)
• Monroe County: 27 (13 new)
• Montgomery County: 2
• Nassau County: 372 (189 new)
• Niagara County: 1 (1 new)
• New York City: 2469 (1129 new)
• Oneida County: 2 (2 new)
• Onondaga County: 5 (3 new)
• Ontario County: 1
• Orange County: 51 (19 new)
• Putnam County: 5 (3 new)
• Rensselaer County: 6 (2 new)
• Rockland County: 53 (23 new)
• Saratoga County: 18 (4 new)
• Schenectady County: 18 (4 new)
• Schoharie County: 1 (1 new)
• Suffolk County: 178 (62 new)
• Sullivan County: 3 (2 new)
• Tioga County : 1
• Tompkins County: 6 (3 new)
• Ulster County: 10 (1 new)
• Warren County: 1
• Washington County: 1
• Wayne County: 1 (1 new)
• Westchester County: 798 (260 new)
• Wyoming County: 2 (1 new)