Second COVID-19 Confirmed And School Closed In NYC, Cuomo Says

NEW YORK CITY — A New Rochelle man diagnosed with new coronavirus is being treated in a Manhattan hospital, a Bronx school his son attended has been closed and a Manhattan university his second son attends is being monitored, according to officials.

The 50-year-old attorney, who did not travel to a watchlist nation, is in serious condition after he was diagnosed with COVID-19 at Columbia Presbyterian hospital Monday, said Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Mayor Bill de Blasio at separate press conferences Tuesday.

"You're going to see continued spreading and that spreading is inevitable," Cuomo said. "We are now going through possible connections to find people."

The diagnosis of the New Rochelle man, who worked in a midtown Manhattan law firm, triggered the closing of the SAR High School in Riverdale where his child was a student, Cuomo and de Blasio said.

"There may be some more schools who voluntarily close," said the governor.

The man's second son, who attends Yeshiva University in Washington Heights, has shown symptoms and was isolated with his brother in their Westchester County home, according to the mayor and a notice sent from the school.

The student has not been on the Yeshiva University campus since Feb. 27, according to an email sent to staff and students.

While classes have not been cancelled, the school is disinfecting all common areas and following recommendations from the city's Health Department and the CDC, the email reads.

The man, who had an underlying respiratory illness, checked himself into the Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville before being transferred to New York City, according to the governor.

Seven employees of the man's Manhattan law firm will be tested for COVID-19 after reporting prolonged contact with him, said de Blasio

"Obviously we're very concerned," the mayor said in the Blue Room Tuesday afternoon. "This appears to be an example of community spread."

Cuomo briefed reporters at a press conference and signed legislation approving the $40 million Emergency Management Authorization for Coronavirus Response.

Among state initiatives is an amendment to the paid sick leave laws to protect anyone forced to leave work because of a potential quarantine.

"Their employer should pay them for the period of quarantine and their job should be protected," Cuomo said.

The Department of Health will partner with private labs to increase the state's capacity to conduct up to 1,000 COVID tests a day in New York State, Cuomo said.

State University of New York will make a decision Tuesday whether or not to summon home students studying abroad, said the governor.

Two Buffalo families who traveled to a part of Italy with an outbreak are also undergoing testing, the governor said.

"Government is working," said Cuomo. "It's not caught up in politics."

New York City sprung into action after a 39-year-old health care worker who lives in Manhattan and traveled to Iran was the first New Yorker to receive a confirmed COVID-19 diagnosis.

The woman and her husband, also a health care worker who traveled to Iran, chose to self-isolate after she began showing symptoms and is awaiting the results of his test, officials said.

Eight other New York City dwellers have been tested and cleared, according to the mayor.

New York City Transit has launched a massive scrub-down system in subways, buses and trains and New York City has reserved 1,200 hospital beds dedicated to treating novel coronavirus, officials said.

As of Tuesday, there are 92,196 confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide and 105 in the U.S., according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Six U.S. residents have died and seven have recovered from COVID-19, data show.