New Rochelle Grappling With New Coronavirus Containment Zone

NEW ROCHELLE, NY — New Rochelle city and school officials spent Tuesday afternoon racing to learn more and grappling with multiple issues and necessary decisions about a new, mile-wide containment zone at the epicenter of New York's coronavirus outbreak.

There are 173 confirmed cases of the virus in New York — up 31 from Monday — and the cluster of cases in New Rochelle is the largest in the country, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference midday Tuesday. Cuomo announced the containment zone and said the New York National Guard will be deployed to the area.

Facilities including schools and houses of worship near Young Israel of New Rochelle, the synagogue at the heart of the outbreak, will close for two weeks. The list of facilities in the containment area is being created in collaboration with the Westchester County executive and the mayor of New Rochelle.

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At City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, city and school district officials talked with state officials, met in conferences and fielded phone calls from worried residents. Mayor Noam Bramson would not say how much advance notice the city was given on the containment zone plan.

"We've been in constant consultation with state and county officials and will continue working collaboratively to implement all health directives," Bramson told Patch. "We understand the good of limiting large gatherings."

City officials have not yet learned where the National Guard will be stationed, the mayor said.

"We will of course coordinate with the National Guard to ensure they will be able to support our community in our time of need," Bramson said.

The priorities are the "delivery of meals, important for children who rely on school breakfasts, cleaning, and other logistical challenges we cannot even anticipate," he added.

The governor said Northwell labs will set up a local testing operation within the containment zone. City officials said they had not yet been told where that will be. The governor promised that information would be posted soon on the New York State Department of Health website.

"As we see the number of cases continue to rise based upon close contacts with persons who are positive for COVID-19, there is a particular need to reduce the opportunity for further close contacts," Dr. Howard Zucker, the state health commissioner, said at the Tuesday news conference. "These opportunities include schools, churches, synagogues, and other event spaces where large numbers of people gather and remain together for extended periods of time. Although we believe that the risk generally to New Yorkers is low, I have recommended this strategy to reduce opportunities for further spread with the goal of reducing the number of new cases we are seeing in New Rochelle."

The governor on Tuesday confirmed 31 additional cases of novel coronavirus, bringing the statewide total to 173 cases. The geographic breakdown is as follows:

• Westchester County: 108 (10 new)
• New York City: 36 (17 new)
• Nassau County: 19 (2 new)
• Rockland County: 6 (2 new)
• Saratoga County: 2
• Suffolk County: 1
• Ulster County: 1

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