The New York Metro area’s coronavirus outbreak is a case study in how the illness can spread at lightning-speed in a packed, high-traffic petri-dish environment.
Since COVID-19 hit the Empire State on March 1, cases have ballooned to 328 — the majority of them connected to a cluster in Westchester County.
Officials have begun taking drastic measures, such as banning gatherings of more than 500 people and setting up a mile-radius “containment area” in Westchester County, in effect until March 25.
March 1
Coronavirus hits New York, as Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces the first case, a 39-year-old healthcare worker from Manhattan who recently returned from a trip to Iran.
She is isolated at home with her husband, who tests negative. This comes the day after the US recorded its first death from the disease, a patient nea🦋r Seattle.
March 2
New York records its second case: Lawrence Garbuz, a 50-year-old Westchester lawyer who works in Midtown. Officials don’t know where he caught it, but say it✃ was likely not through travel.
March 3
A 32-year-old Fort Lee, New Jersey man tests positive. He also has a home in NY.
March 4
At least nine people who came in contact with the Westchester attorney test positive. They include his 46-year-old wife, 20-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter. His neighbor, who drove him to the hospital, and a friend, the friend’s wiꦦfe and three kids are also🍒 sickened.
March 5
Long Island records its first case, as t💦he tally in the Empire State rises to 22, including two more peo🦂ple in New York City.
March 6
Cases in the state double, hitting 44 by the end of the day. At least 37 of the cases are tied to Garbuz. Cuomo says 4,000 people in the state are under 🅠“precautionary quarantine,” including 2,700 in the city.
Mayor Bill de Blasio urges sick New Yorkers to stay home.
March 7
Cuomo declares a state of emergency as ♚the number of cases jumps again, to 89, including 11 in the Big Ap💝ple.
March 8
Cases in the state top 106, including 13 in the Big Apple.
March 9
Coronavirus transmission in the city could last until September, health officials warn. Several colleges in New York and New Jersey close.
March 10
State deploys the National Guard in hard-hit New Rochelle to set up a containment zone. Public schools there close through March 25. This comes as cases hit 173 in the state — the most of any in the nation.
Port Authority chief Rick Cotton is infected with the potentially deadly bug.
Meanwhile, the number of confirmed cases in New York City jump to 36 — at least one in each borough and nearly double 📖the 19 reported the previous day.
March 11
New York City’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade is indefinitely postponed, as cases in the state rise to 212, including 48 ♔in the five boroughs.
SUNY and CUNY systems cancel all in-person classes.
March 12
Mayor de Blasio declares a state of emergency as cases hit 95 in the Big Apple. The city that never sleeps shuts down with Broadway going dark, the opera silenced and museums closing their doors.
The Big Apple cou🅺ld have ♔1,000 coronavirus cases by next week, the mayor says.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo bans gatherings with more than 500 peopleꦡ temporarily as cases statewide top 328.
March 13
The Big Apple’s tally of coronavirus cases reaches 95, with de Blasio insisting the city isn’t shutting down. That’s despite additional closures — including of the New York Public Library and the 9/11 memorial and museum — in accordance with Cuomo’s ban on gatherings larger than 500 people.
The mayor faces increased pressure to shut down public schools, as Catholic schools across the city announce closures. Top NYC landlords pledge to put a three-month moratorium on evictions.
Meanwhile, the city gets the green light from the FDA to begin processing thousands of coronavirus tests daily. And the state’s first coronavirus drive-thru testing center opens in New Rochelle.
March 14
The coronavirus claims its first life in the Empire State, an 82-year-old woman who also had emphysema and died at a Brooklyn hospital. Sources later say that a 65-year-old Rockland County man who died earlier in the week tested positive posthumously, marking the second death in the state.
Cases in New York reach 524, an increase of 100 from the day before, as two Brooklyn-based members of the state Assembly, Charles Barron and Helene Weinstein, test positive.
All New York City Council hearings and staff meetings are suspended. The NYC Dept. of Corrections bans all in-person visitations until April 11. And the NY Archdiocese shuts down Sunday services at all of its 296 parishes.
March 15
Four new coronavirus deaths are reported in the city: a 79-year-old woman, a 78-year-old man, a 56-year-old man and a 53-year-old woman. A total of 329 cases are recorded in the Big 🅺Apple, nearly half of the 792 cases statewide.
De Blasio finally announces that city public schools will close until at least April 20. The city’s nightlife is shut down, with bars and restaurants will now provide takeout or delive🍒ry servi🌟ces.
All public and private schools in Nassau and Suffolk counties close for at least two weeks.
March 16
Govs. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Ned Lamont of Connecticut agree to shutter businesses — including gyms, movie theaters and casinos — beginning at 8 p.m. and ban gatherings of more than 50 people across ℱall three states.
T✅he state hits 950 confirmed cases, with 463 in the city. The death ღtoll hits nine.
The city announces plans to launch five drive-through testing centers and to dedicate 8,300 hospital beds for treatment. Subway ridership plummets by nearly half at Manhattan’s busiest stations. The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island close.
March 17
Cases statewide spike ove🥀rꦺnight to 1,374. The jump is driven by a 187-case rise in the Big Apple, for a total of 644.
Cuomo and De Blasio clash over whether to implement a shelt♚er-in-place order for New York City that would severely restrict the movement of most residents.
But Cuomo and President Trump cozy up. And Defense Secretary Mark Esper pledges to deploy the Army Corps of Engineers to the Empire𒈔 State to address an anticipated shortage in hospital beds.
Meanwhile, the MTA asks for a $4 billion bailouꦐt f♛rom the federal government over declining ridership.
In the 🌳Big Apple, Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres, 31, becomes the first mem𓆏ber of the council to declare he’s come down with the illness.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez says his office will immediately stop prosecutin🧜g low-le🎐vel, non-violent offenses.
The state susp𝔉ends medical and student loan debt collection for at lea💖st 30 days.