Cuomo Orders 75% of New Yorkers to Stay Home From Work

(Bloomberg) -- New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday ordered businesses to keep 75% of their workforce home as the number of coronavirus cases rises rapidly.

Just the day before, he ordered half to stay at home.

The state will also provide 90-day mortgage relief to help those facing financial hardship as a result of the outbreak, Cuomo said. The payments will be waived and added to the back end of the mortgage. No late fees will be applied, he said.

Cuomo offered reassurances that he will not shut down New York City. “None of that is going to happen,” he told reporters in Albany. “There is no quarantine plan for New York City.”

The state will also waive fees for overdrafts on ATMS and credit cards, he said.

The actions come as the number of people testing positive statewide nearly doubled, reaching 4,152, of which 2,469 cases are in New York City. New York has the nation’s highest number of cases.

As of Thursday, 777 people were hospitalized. The hospitalization rate for positive cases decreased to 19%, down from 23% Wednesday, according to state data.

The state has tested 22,284 people, 7,584 since Wednesday.

Cuomo warned of an impending shortage of ventilators, so much so that the state “has people in China shopping for ventilators.”

The state has between 5,000 and 6,000 ventilators, but will need about 30,000, he said.

The mandate for workers staying home does not apply to essential services like hospitals and pharmacies, he said.

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