Governor Cuomo and Mayor de Blasio put out statements on Thursday, March 12 denying rumors that New York City was going to be placed under mass quarantine or shut down public transportation.
“To be clear, the state has the legal authority to overrule any locality’s decision to issue an order of mass quarantine or shut down,” a statement from Governor Cuomo’s office reads. “No locality will be closing down. The mass transit system is not shutting down. These rumors, caused by undue anxiety, are just that — rumors.”
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio echoed this sentiment on Twitter.
“NO, there is NO TRUTH to rumors about Manhattan being quarantined,” de Blasio’s tweet reads. “Whoever is spreading this misinformation, PLEASE STOP NOW!”
NO, there is NO TRUTH to rumors about Manhattan being quarantined. Whoever is spreading this misinformation, PLEASE STOP NOW!
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) March 12, 2020
De Blasio issued a state of emergency for the city on Thursday and predicted that there could be over 1,000 cases of coronavirus by next week.
Gov. Cuomo has issued a series of new measures going into effect on Friday, which include bans on gatherings of 500 people and more and only allowing medically necessary visits to nursing homes, after the confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state have grown to 328 at time of publication.
In order to get updates about the NYC Office of Emergency Management’s response to the coronavirus, you can text ‘COVID’ to 692-692.
“This is going to get a lot worse before it gets better,” Mayor de Blasio emphasized in his state of emergency press conference.
Email Matthew Fischetti at [email protected]