Non-Essential NY Businesses Told Half Of Workforce Must Stay Home

NEW YORK, NY — New York will order all non-essential businesses in New York to have at least half their employees work from home, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday. The latest measure follows a series of dramatic steps the state has taken to "flatten the curve," and prevent a wave of looming new coronavirus cases from overwhelming hospitals.

Essential services, such as those in health care, food, pharmacy or supply industry, will be exempt.

Cuomo reiterated Wednesday that experts project the disease will peak in about 45 days. The state could need as many as 110,000 hospital beds, but has a current capacity of just 52,000 beds, he said. Even more pressing: the state currently has about 3,000 intensive care beds — meaning they have a ventilator that can help people breathe — and they could need as many as 37,000.

"It's all about the ventilators," Cuomo said.

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He added that contrary to what New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has floated, he is not at the point of considering ordering any municipality to shelter in place, as was recently announced in the San Francisco bay area. Cuomo said he doesn't believe the policy would be effective unless it covered a wide swath of the region. People in the shelter-in-place area would simply move elsewhere to avoid it, he said.

The number of confirmed cases of the new coronavirus nearly doubled overnight in Nassau County as testing for the new virus ramped up across the state. No new deaths were reported in the county. Nassau County Executive Laura Curran announced Wednesday morning there were 278 confirmed cases in the county — up from 139 on Tuesday. The sharp increase in cases was due to more tests being conducted, Curran said. Drive-through testing facilities have opened in Jericho and Jones Beach, increasing residents' access to the tests.

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