New Rochelle's coronavirus ghost town

America’s first coronavirus ghost town: Pictures from inside New York containment zone of New Rochelle show deserted streets, empty restaurants and closed schools

The coronavirus hotspot in Westchester County accounts for more than 120 of NY’s 217 confirmed cases
Pictures from inside the containment zone show deserted streets, empty restaurants and closed schools
The National Guard is being brought in to help with cleaning public spaces and delivering food to people
Radius centers around the Temple Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue that was attended by Manhattan attorney Lawrence Garbuz who has been linked to the outbreak in the area
The shutdown will begin Thursday and last for two weeks and will effect all ‘major gathering places’
Officials said the closures will not effect businesses but images taken Wednesday show a different picture
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said people will not be contained and residents are free to come and go with the one-mile radius but it appears those living in the zone are taking more aggressive action

New Rochelle resembled a ghost town Thursday after it was announced a one-mile containment area will be set up in an effort stop the spread of coronavirus.

The city in Westchester County accounts for more than 120 of New York’s 217 confirmed cases.

Pictures from inside the containment zone show deserted streets, empty restaurants and closed schools. The National Guard is being brought in to help with cleaning public spaces and delivering food to people who are in quarantine.

The radius centers around the Temple Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue that was attended by Manhattan attorney Lawrence Garbuz who has been linked to the outbreak in the area.

Empty streets and cafes make up the business area in the one mile containment zone in New Rochelle on Wednesday

New Rochelle has become the state’s largest source of COVID-19 infections, prompting Governor Andrew Cuomo to announce Tuesday that a one mile radius containment area will be implemented to try to halt the spread of Coronavirus

Pictures from inside the containment zone show deserted streets, empty restaurants and closed schools

The radius centers around the Temple Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue that was attended by Manhattan attorney Lawrence Garbuz who has been linked to the outbreak in the area

Cases of coronavirus in New York State

New York City 52

Westchester County 121

Nassau County 28

Rockland County 6

Suffolk County 6

Saratoga County 2

Ulster County 2

New York State Total 217

Figures as of Wednesday afternoon

Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the decision to enforce a one-mile containment area was one made by New York Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker and other public health officials.

‘It’s not a decision that I’m making. I’m accepting the recommendation of Dr. Zucker. In a situation like this, whether you’re president, mayor, governor, let the experts decide and let the science decide the situation,’ he said.

The shutdown, which will begin on Thursday and last for two weeks, will effect all ‘major gathering places’ including schools and places of worship, Cuomo said.

‘It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster in the country. And this is literally a matter of life and death,’ Cuomo said.

restaurant owner Joshua Berkowitz has adopted what he calls a ‘drop and dash’ method of delivering food to customers – including many in quarantine.

‘I’m afraid for their safety, and they´re afraid for my safety,’ he said Wednesday. ‘I don’t want to have contact with them.’

Resident Hugh Price added: ‘I think there is a weariness. You’re just more mindful of who you have contact with and the nature of the contact.’

Cuomo announced Wednesday that the state Health Department will grant $200,000 to a food bank in New Rochelle. Nine schools are closed in the containment area, and the funding is intended to help feed any student or family who relies on free school lunches.

Garbuz who was among the first to be diagnosed with coronavirus in New York and has passed it on to dozens, is now believed to be in an induced coma.

The 50-year-old was diagnosed with the virus last week and has since infected his family, along with others in the community where he lives. He remains in the hospital and, according to sources cited by The New York Post, is in an induced coma.

The schools that will close include New Rochelle High School, Albert Leonard Middle School and William B. Ward Elementary.

Officials had said the closures will not effect smaller businesses and grocery stores but images taken Wednesday show many of them empty.

Cuomo said people will not be contained and residents are free to come and go with the one-mile radius but it appears those living in the zone are taking more aggressive action.

The state and a private health system, Northwell Health, are also setting up a testing facility in the area.

The city in Westchester County where the main cluster of coronavirus have been reported and accounts for more than 120 of New York’s 217 confirmed cases

Gov. Cuomo said the decision to enforce a one-mile containment area was one made by New York Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker and other public health officials

The shutdown, which will begin on Thursday and last for two weeks, will effect all ‘major gathering places’ including schools and places of worship

The closures will not effect smaller businesses and grocery stores, officials had said, but images taken Wednesday show many of them empty

‘New Rochelle at this point is probably the largest cluster in the U.S. of these cases and it is a significant issue for us,’ Cuomo said. ‘The numbers have been going up. The numbers continue to go up. The numbers are going up unabated. And we do need a special public health strategy for New Rochelle.’

‘It is a dramatic action,’ the Democratic governor said at a news conference. ‘It is the largest cluster of cases in the country. The numbers are going up unabated, and we do need a special public health strategy for New Rochelle.’

Cuomo on Wednesday warned the outbreak of coronavirus could become the ‘public health version’ of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina killed nearly 2,000 people when it struck Louisiana in August 2005. The Federal Emergency Management Agency was accused of a sluggish response to the storm.

The suburb of about 80,000 residents is at the center of an outbreak of more than 120 cases in Westchester County, out of 217 statewide as of Wednesday. New York City has more than 40 cases, while its population is more than 100 times that of New Rochelle.

Cuomo’s office didn’t immediately have a number of how many troops are being deployed but said some have already arrived.

Crews at New Rochelle´s commuter rail station are disinfecting turnstiles, handrails and other surfaces twice a day. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Wednesday that a ‘dedicated cleaning crew’ is stationed at the suburban stop.

Chairs were empty Wednesday morning at The Dugout babershop, just outside the containment area, where owner Kenny Rivera said there would typically be several customers. He said he appreciated the risks posed by the virus, especially to the elderly, but thought some measures were unnecessary.

‘I think the National Guard is a bit much,’ he said.

Jose Felipe, who owns the New Rochelle Grocery Store, said workers have been wiping down doors, shopping baskets and carts up to 10 times a day. Toiletries, bleach and Lysol have been selling fast.

‘We’ve noticed there’s been a diminished interest in produce items, which are items you can touch, accessible to everybody,’ he said. ‘So canned goods or anything that is sealed is selling.’

Cuomo said people will not be contained and residents are free to come and go with the one-mile radius but it appears those living in the zone are taking more aggressive action

Business owners stand along empty streets as restaurants and cafes are mostly closed in the one mile containment zone

HOW CORONAVIRUS CASES IN NEW YORK ARE LINKED TO ONE MANHATTAN ATTORNEY

The radius centers around the Temple Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue that was attended by Manhattan attorney Lawrence Garbuz who has been linked to the outbreak in the area

Manhattan attorney Lawrence Garbuz, 50, had recently returned to New York from a trip to Miami.

His neighbor in New Rochelle drove him to the New York Presbyterian Lawrenence Hospital in Bronxville, New York on February 28 after he started having trouble breathing.

Doctors initially just assumed he had pneumonia and he was put in a regular room before being moved to intensive care as he condition deteriorated.

It took four days for him to be diagnosed with coronavirus on March 2.

In that time, he had come into contact with dozens of doctors and other patients.

Health officials immediately started to retrace his steps and started testing those he had come into contact with.

In addition to hospital staff, it emerged he had come into contact with members of his Temple Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue, employees and his law firm and friends.

His immediate family, including his wife, 20-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter all tested positive.

The neighbor who drove him to the hospital also contracted the disease.

It then emerged his friend’s family of five, including three children, tested positive.

Medical staff and the hospital, members of his law firm and attendees at the Temple Young Israel of New Rochelle synagogue, of which Garbuz is a member, have also been confirmed as cases.

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