New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio (D) urged people to work from home if possible as the coronavirus outbreak spreads across New York.
“For a business that can allow more employees to telecommute, we want you to do that,” de Blasio said in a press briefing Monday, according to CNBC.
He added that the intent is to “reduce the number of people on mass transit” and open up more space.
“The challenge is people just packed like sardines” in the city, he reportedly added.
The virus can spread between people in close contact with one another and through respiratory droplets produced when an infected person coughs or sneezes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) declared a state of emergency in New York on Sunday.
Cuomo announced 37 new confirmed cases of the virus in New York on Monday, bringing the total to 142 across the state.
Nineteen of the cases have been confirmed in New York City, second only to Westchester with a total of 98 cases.
Cuomo said Monday the state will be distributing its own hand sanitizer free of charge to state agencies, including prisons, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and schools.