TALK TO US ON THE PHONE. WE’RE WATCHING CLOSELY AND
WISHING THE BEST TO YOU AND ALL
THE FOLKS IN YOUR BEAUTIFUL
CITY.
CITY. WE ALSO HAVE SOME BREAKING NEWS
ON EFFORTS TO CONTAIN THE
CORONAVIRUS IN A CITY HIT HARD.
NEW ROCHELLE, NEW YORK, JUST
NORTH OF NEW YORK CITY.
JOINING ME IS NBC NEWS
CORRESPONDENT RON ALLEN.
WHAT CAN YOU TELL ME?
GOVERNOR CUOMO JUST MADE SOME
NEWS.
NEWS. >> HE DID.
HE’S CALLING IN THE NATIONAL
GUARD TO HELP SET UP A
CONTAINMENT AREA AROUND A HOT
SPOT.
SPOT. A CLUSTER.
A CLUSTER. NEW ROCHELLE HAS OVER 100
CONFIRMED CASES.
CONFIRMED CASES. IT’S A SUBURB JUST ON THE NORTH
SIDE OF NEW YORK CITY.
ABOUT 73,000 PEOPLE OR SO.
AND IT’S BEEN LINKED TO WHAT THE
GOVERNOR HAS DESCRIBED AS THE
MOST DIFFICULT OUTBREAK TO
CONTAIN.
CONTAIN. ALL THIS LINKED TO A LAWYER WHO
LIVES OUT THERE WHO WORKS IN
MIDTOWN MANHATTAN WHO WAS --
TESTED POSITIVE FOR THE VIRUS
ABOUT A WEEK OR SO AGO.
AND MOST OF THE CASES HAVE
SPREAD FROM HIM AND HIS FAMILY
THROUGH COMMUNITY CONTACT.
THROUGH LOCAL CONTACT.
HOW HE FIRST ACQUIRED THE VIRUS
IS STILL UNKNOWN.
IT’S PART OF THIS COMMUNITY
SPREAD PROBLEM.
SPREAD PROBLEM. HERE THE APPROACH HAS BEEN TO
TRY AND ISOLATE INDIVIDUALS WHO
HAVE THE DISEASE AND TO TRY TO
CONTAIN IT.
CONTAIN IT. AND NOW IN THIS TOWN OF 73,000
PEOPLE, THEY ARE TRYING TO SET
UP A ONE-MILE CONTAINMENT AREA
AROUND THE HOT SPOT.
A LOT OF THIS IS TRACED BACK TO
A JEWISH SYNAGOGUE WHERE THE
FAMILY AND OTHERS ATTENDED A
NUMBER OF RELIGIOUS SERVICES AND
EVENTS.
EVENTS. THERE WAS COMMUNITY SPREAD OF
THE VIRUS BY HAND TOUCHING, BY
COUGHING, BY CLOSE CONTACT,
BY -- BETWEEN INDIVIDUALS.
AND SO NOW FOR THE FIRST TIME,
WE’RE HEARING ABOUT A SITUATION
IN THIS COMMUNITY WHERE THE
GOVERNOR HAS TARGETED THIS
CLUSTER OF CASES AND THEY ARE
TRYING TO CONTAIN IT.
THEY ARE TRYING TO CONTAIN IT IN
AS MANY WAYS AS POSSIBLE WITH
THE HELP OF THE NATIONAL GUARD
WHO ARE GOING TO BE FOCUSING ON
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS,
TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS, INFRASTRUCTURE, NOT TRYING TO
CONTAIN PEOPLE SO MUCH AS TRYING
TO CONTAIN ACTIVITIES WITHIN A
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT.
GEOGRAPHIC DISTRICT. TRYING TO REDUCE TRAVEL.
TRYING TO HELP WITH DELIVERIES
AND ITEMS.
AND ITEMS. THEY BELIEVE THAT THE VIRUS HAS
BEEN SPREAD BY PEOPLE TOUCHING
HANDS.
HANDS. BY PEOPLE MOVING THROUGHOUT THE
COMMUNITY.
COMMUNITY. SO IT’S A VERY UNIQUE SITUATION
DURING THE DAYS THAT THIS
OUTBREAK HAS BEEN GOING ON.
WE HAVE YET TO HEAR OF A
SITUATION LIKE THIS IN NEW YORK
AND IT’S FOCUSED ON THIS SUBURB,
NOT THE CITY OF NEW YORK, WHICH
IS MILLIONS OF PEOPLE.
THERE’S A LOT OF CONCERN ABOUT
THE SUBWAY AND OTHER AREAS.
THIS IS A UNIQUE SITUATION, NOT
ONE WE’VE HEARD MUCH ABOUT IN
OTHER PARTS OF THE COUNTRY FOR
THAT MATTER.
THAT MATTER. A SUBURBAN COMMUNITY, SOME
70,000 PEOPLE WHERE THERE’S BEEN
A PARTICULAR CASE, A KEY CASE OF
COMMUNITY SPREAD, DIRECTLY
CONNECTED TO AN INDIVIDUAL AND
HIS FAMILY, AND THE SPREAD HAS
GONE OUT IN RIPPLES IN RECENT
DAYS AND NOW THE EFFORT IS TO
TRY AND CONTAIN IT.
THE RECENT NUMBER IS 108 CASES
IN A STATE WHERE THERE ARE ABOUT
150 TOTAL.
150 TOTAL. SO THAT GIVES YOU AN EXTENT OF
THE SEVERITY OF THE PROBLEM, BUT