COVID-19: New York to shut down as it becomes next coronavirus hot spot

New York City is all set to go for a complete lockdown from 8 pm Sunday to contain the spread of COVID-19. Three weeks after its first coronavirus infection was discovered, the city has reached an alarming milestone on Sunday: It now accounts for roughly five percent of the world’s confirmed cases, making it an epicenter of the global pandemic.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo ordered all nonessential businesses in the state to close and nonessential workers to stay home starting Sunday night. This is in an attempt to slow a pandemic that has swept across the globe and threatened to make the state one of the world’s biggest coronavirus hot spots.

The Governor of NYC pleaded with federal officials to nationalize the manufacturing of medical supplies and ordered New York City to crack down on people congregating in public. He has also announced measures to prepare for a wave of patients, including setting up temporary hospitals in three New York City suburbs.

Already, hospitals across the New York region are reporting a surge of coronavirus patients and a shortage of critical supplies such as ventilators and masks. More than 15,000 people in New York state have tested positive. That is about half of the cases in the United States. About 1 in 8 patients in New York state has been hospitalized and 114 people have died. Most have been over the age of 70. Late Sunday, the city released new figures that showed 1,800 people hospitalized, including 450 in intensive care units.

Worldwide, more than 335,000 people have been infected by the pandemic and more than 14,600 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. About 150 countries now have confirmed cases.

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