State lawmakers approve $40M funding to fight coronavirus

The emergency spending plan gives Gov. Andrew Cuomo the ability to declare a state of emergency.

News 12 Staff

Mar 3, 2020, 11:01 AM

Updated 1,682 days ago

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State lawmakers have approved $40 million in emergency funding to fight coronavirus in New York.
The money will go to health care facilities across the state. The emergency spending plan also expands Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s emergency powers to handle crisis response to situation like coronavirus.
The move comes as a health care worker in Manhattan was diagnosed with the first confirmed case of coronavirus in New York. The second case has been confirmed as a Westchester man who is hospitalized in Manhattan.
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Gov. Cuomo says the man in the second case is a Manhattan attorney who had recently traveled to Miami, but it’s not suspected that he was contagious at the time of his trip. The governor said the news of the second patient in New York should not be a cause for alarm. However, out of an abundance of caution, two schools in the New York City area were closed Tuesday.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo says SUNY schools are considering recalling some or all of its students who are studying abroad to make sure they are safe.
Transit officials are now taking the extra step to sanitize turnstiles, railings and train cars more often to help prevent the spread of the virus.
There are no confirmed cases on Long Island. Nassau County health officials are monitoring 67 people – up five people from Monday. In Suffolk, officials are monitoring 24 people.
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