Bill de Blasio says historic measures are coming for New Yorkers but wants to avoid a mass shutdown

Mayor Bill de Blasio said New Yorkers should brace for historic measures coming today and tomorrow as officials desperately try to contain the spread of coronavirus across the city, after confirmed cases skyrocketed to 62 by Thursday morning. 

De Blasio said the city’s residents will see ‘new models that we’ve never used before’ rolled out but insisted he wants to avoid a complete subway shutdown and urged Broadway to keep its doors open. 

‘We’re going to have to introduce more and more restrictions, which we’re certainly going to be doing in New York City today and tomorrow,’ the mayor told CNN. 

While he committed to ensuring the ‘normalcy’ of daily life goes on as much as possible, he said the city will face restrictions never before seen.

Mayor Bill de Blasio (pictured at a press conference on Wednesday) said New Yorkers will see ‘new models that we’ve never used before’ introduced but insisted he wants to avoid a complete subway shutdown and urged Broadway to stay open

‘We are going to very quickly put out guidance about having to reduce crowds and audiences while still having a certain amount of activity,’ he said. 

The restrictions will ‘somehow balance the need to keep as much normalcy in society as possible while reducing the gatherings that are causing concern, giving people more space,’ he said.  

This comes as officials canceled New York City’s St Patrick’s Day parade for the first time in more than 250 years as nine new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours alone.   

Manhattan’s Broadway looks deserted on Tuesday: De Blasio urged Broadway to stay open after it emerged Wednesday that an usher who worked two theaters on the Great White Way had tested positive for coronavirus

The mayor insisted he doesn’t want to shut down the city’s subway system

De Blasio stopped short of saying what exactly the restrictions will be and insisted that he doesn’t want to shut down the city’s subway system.  

‘Were not going to shut down a subway system,’ de Blasio said.

‘If you shut down a subway system then you’re shutting down an economy and you’re shutting down work and livelihood.’ 

Instead, he is encouraging employers to stagger commuters, and allow staff to work from home where possible.

Subway cars have become notably quieter over the last week as residents have already begun avoiding travel and companies are switching staff to telecommuting in order to avoid mass outbreaks. 

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced that it would double coronavirus-related cleanings of the city’s 472 subway stations, with staff using bleach and chemicals twice a day to wipe down all of the surfaces, turnstiles and railings at each station.  

The mayor also urged Broadway to stay open after it emerged Wednesday that an usher who worked two theaters on the Great White Way had tested positive for coronavirus. 

The usher had worked performances of ‘Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?’ at the Booth Theatre and ‘SIX’ at the Brooks Atkinson Theater, meaning thousands of theater-goers may have been exposed to the deadly virus. 

Rush hour commute in the Bronx is deserted on Wednesday. Subway cars have become notably quieter as residents have already begun avoiding travel and companies are switching staff to telecommuting

On Tuesday, the Metropolitan Transit Authority announced that it would double coronavirus-related cleanings of the city’s 472 subway stations, with staff using bleach and chemicals twice a day to wipe down all of the surfaces, turnstiles and railings at each station

De Blasio said the aim was to reach a ‘kind of balance’ and avoid a total closure.

‘I don’t want to see Broadway go dark if we can avoid it. I want to see if we strike some kind of balance,’ he said. 

‘If we cannot strike the balance of course we can go to closure that’s the decision we will make right away.’ 

Officials announced Wednesday they were canceling New York City’s St Patrick’s Day parade for the first time in more than 250 years

A man is pictured celebrating last year’s parade. It’s cancellation came hot on the heels of the parades in Boston and Chicago also being axed

De Blasio also went on to say that there is no plan to shut down schools on a mass scale. 

The aim is to avoid a ‘slippery slope’ of schools closing, he said, adding that a protocol was in place to shut a school temporarily if a case is identified and ‘then we want that school back up and running.’ 

His comments came as his office issued a statement Thursday morning confirming that two schools in the Bronx are being closed after a student tested positive for coronavirus.

John F Kennedy airport in New York looks like a ghost town on Thursday as people avoid traveling amid fears of coronavirus 

An empty departure lounge at John F Kennedy airport in New York on Thursday

The two co-located schools, the Laboratory School of Finance and Technology and South Bronx Preparatory: A College Board School, will be closed for an initial 24-hour period while close contacts of the individual are identified, quarantined and tested, and school buildings are deep cleaned.

‘We don’t make this decision lightly, and we know the disruption and anxiety this means for students, faculty and parents. We are taking every precaution to keep people safe, and we will keep everyone informed as we learn more through the day,’ the statement read. 

While fears continue to mount across the Big Apple, de Blasio was optimistic that New Yorkers are already prepared. 

‘People are really changing their habits,’ he said. 

Pictures show John F Kennedy airport in New York deserted of passengers on Thursday morning as people avoid traveling amid the outbreak – the morning after President Trump’s shock announcement that ‘all travel’ from Europe to the US would be stopped for 30 days.

New York state has fast become a hotbed for the virus, with the highest number of confirmed cases of all US states, second to only Washington. Most cases can be traced back to the New Rochelle lawyer who traveled from Westchester (pictured) to Manhattan for work

A worker looks out from a near empty restaurant on North Avenue during the coronavirus outbreak in New Rochelle on Tuesday. A one-mile radius containment zone has now been established in the New Rochelle area – a suburb of 80,000 residents just north of New York City

New York state has fast become a hotbed for the virus, with the highest number of confirmed cases of all US states, second to only Washington. 

Most cases can be traced back to the New Rochelle lawyer who traveled from Westchester to Manhattan for work.

He was the second confirmed case in New York state, its first known instance of community spread and is one of few still hospitalized with the virus. 

A one-mile radius containment zone has now been established in the New Rochelle area – a suburb of 80,000 residents just north of New York City.  

The containment zone will remain in effect for two weeks through to March 25, though officials are stating it is not a lockdown and people not in quarantine will be able to leave their homes and go to work. 

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

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.

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk