A conference to discuss the impact of coronavirus on business in the US has been canceled because of a sudden rise in infections in New York.
The roundtable, called Doing Business Under Coronavirus, was canned after 173 cases of the infection were confirmed in the state, where the conference was supposed to be held on Friday.
The Council on Foreign Relations organised the event to help support the businesses facing increased pressure from the impact of Covid-19.
Other conferences, scheduled from March 11 to April 3, also had to be scrapped – including roundtables in New York and Washington as well as national events across the US.
A roundtable, called Doing Business Under Coronavirus, was canned after 173 cases of the infection were confirmed in New York, where the conference was supposed to be held on Friday (pictured, Times Square yesterday)
It comes after the National Guard revealed plans to shut down schools, places of worship and any other large gathering places in New Rochelle, the New York suburb most affected by the illness.
The Westchester County community has the ‘largest cluster’ of coronavirus cases in the country and a one-mile containment area will be set up, according to New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The area is the epicenter of of the state’s coronavirus outbreak and accounts for more than 100 of New York’s 173 confirmed cases.
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.
A rise in the number of coronavirus cases in New Rochelle, a New York suburb, prompted the cancellation. Pictured, a general view of Westchester School after it was shuttered on Monday
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,’ he added.
The announcement about the containment area came as New Jersey reported its first coronavirus death. It is the first fatality in the tri-state area.
Cuomo said he was calling in the National Guard to the containment area to assist with cleaning public spaces and to deliver food to homes where people are currently self-quarantined.
The Westchester County community has the ‘largest cluster’ of coronavirus cases in the country and a one-mile containment area will be set up (pictured New Rochelle High School)
Health officials said they are still trying to determine a full list of places that will be forced to close within the containment area.
The schools that will close include New Rochelle High School, Albert Leonard Middle School and William B. Ward Elementary.
The closures will not affect smaller businesses and grocery stores, officials said.
Cuomo said people will not be contained and residents are free to come and go within the one-mile radius.
Lawrence Garbuz, a 50-year-old attorney from Westchester County, was hospitalized with the contagious disease on February 27 and has infected his children, wife, neighbor, a friend and other family member with the virus
The state and a private health system, Northwell Health, are also setting up a testing facility in the area.
New Rochelle is at the center of an outbreak of 108 cases in Westchester County out of 173 statewide as of Tuesday.
New York City has 36 cases, while its population is more than 100 times that of New Rochelle.
‘New Rochelle at this point is probably the largest cluster in the US 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.’
New York Health Commissioner Dr Howard Zucker said officials were moving from a containment strategy to a mitigation strategy.
‘When you’re dealing with mitigation, you have to deal with the issues of social distancing and how people gather together and to try to minimize that.’
Cuomo said the decision was one made by Dr Zucker and other public health officials.
‘It’s not a decision that I’m making. I’m accepting the recommendation of Dr. Zucker,’ he said.
‘In a situation like this, whether you’re president, mayor, governor, let the experts decide and let the science decide the situation.’
Public and private schools in Scarsdale, which is also in Westchester County but outside the containment area, have already been closed until at least March 18 after a staffer tested positive.
The surge in cases in New York state, particularly Westchester, have been tied to the Manhattan attorney who infected his family and others last week.
His wife spoke out publicly this week, saying his family are ‘hopeful’ for his full recovery.
Garbuz was hospitalized with the contagious disease on February 27 and health officials quickly determined that he had infected his children, wife, neighbor and his friend’s family-of-five.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said he was calling in the National Guard to the New Rochelle containment area to assist with cleaning public spaces and to deliver food to homes where people are currently self-quarantined
Garbuz had recently returned to New York from a trip to Miami before he was diagnosed. He marked the first case of community spread of the coronavirus in New York.
Within days, members of his Manhattan law firm and attendees at the New Rochelle synagogue that he attends later tested positive.
Another event to be cancelled due to the spread of the virus include the annual New York auto show. The Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association said Tuesday that the car show will be rescheduled to late August.
The organizers of two-week music festival Coachella have revealed it, and its sister event Stagecoach, will now be held in October.