NY Update - 400 cases
New York Now Has Over 400 Cases of Coronavirus: Live Updates
Here’s what you need to know:
New York now has more than 400 cases of the virus.
As of Friday afternoon, New York State had 421 confirmed coronavirus cases, with the number of cases in Westchester County and New York City nearly equal, Gov Andrew M. Cuomo said.
There were 158 cases of the virus in Westchester County, home to one of the largest clusters of the virus in the country, and 154 in New York City, officials said. The number of cases in the city had tripled since Wednesday.
On Nassau County, on Long Island, officials declared a state of emergency. The county has 51 confirmed coronavirus cases.
The new totals were announced as New York residents prepared for a drastic shift in their daily lives over the weekend.
Limits on public gatherings in the state take effect at 5 p.m. Friday.
New York officials have pushed to increase the state’s capacity to test for the coronavirus. On Friday, the federal government said that it would allow New York State’s public health department to authorize local labs to perform coronavirus tests.
By next week, New York could be conducting 6,000 tests a day, Mr. Cuomo said. On Friday, the state opened a “drive through” testing facility in New Rochelle, a city north of New York City
that has been at the center of the epidemic in the state.
For New Yorkers who are laid off as a result of the coronavirus, Mr. Cuomo said the state would waive the seven-day waiting period for unemployment insurance. He also said he was directing utilities not to cut off electricity, gas or water service to people who could not pay their bills because of the broader impact of the virus.
A trade group representing at least 29 developers and property managers in New York City who together control more than 150,000 rental units, pledged not to execute any eviction warrants for the next 90 days in response to the spread of Coronavirus.
Exceptions will be made for warrants related to criminal or negligent behavior that jeopardize the health and safety of other residents.