New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is telling residents in his state to work from home to avoid contracting COVID-19.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, de Blasio urged businesses in the city to allow employees to work remotely instead of commuting into offices.
“For a business that can allow more employees to telecommute, we want you to do that,” the mayor said, according to CNBC. “We simply want to reduce the number of people on mass transit just to open up some more space.”
He said that coronavirus can more easily spread in crowds and that the issue is “people just packed like sardines” in New York City. In New York County, there have been 19 confirmed cases of the virus, while nearby Westchester County has seen 98 infections. In Long Island, 17 people have tested positive for the illness.
At Monday’s press conference, de Blasio said that “every public school building” will have nurses deployed to help identify possible cases of COVID-19.
“All public schools will have nurses this week that don’t have them currently,” he said. Additionally, he announced emergency relief for businesses affected by the illness, including zero-interest loans up to $75,000 for businesses with up to 100 employees that can prove a 25% drop in sales.
“For businesses with fewer than five employees — these are the mom and pop stores, neighborhood stores — we will do direct grants up to 40% of payroll costs,” de Blasio said. “That’s to help them continue to employ their employees even if they are seeing a downturn.”
There were more than 600 confirmed cases and 22 deaths across the United States as of Monday afternoon. The Dow Jones Industrial index dropped more than 2,000 points earlier in the day, the largest single-day point drop in history.
