ALBANY, N.Y. (CN) — With 40% of the nation's confirmed Covid-19 cases, the state of New York was put on an order Friday morning to stay home.
Framing the move as a "pause" rather than a lockdown, Governor Andrew Cuomo made the announcement hours after California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered all 40 million residents of his state to stay at home, effective at midnight, except to meet essential needs. In the San Francisco Bay area, a six-county span, has already been sheltering in place since Monday.
On Friday afternoon, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker followed suit by issuing a statewide stay-at-home order effective Saturday.
Cuomo said his directive takes effect "Sunday evening" with two rules: Only essential businesses will be functioning, and remain indoors to the greatest extent to protect physical and mental health.
Excluding essential services, like internet, water and grocery stores, 100% of the workforce must stay home.
“When I talk about the most drastic action we can take, this is the most drastic action we can take," Cuomo said.
Stressing the seriousness of the situation, Cuomo promised enforcement and civil fines for noncompliant businesses.
“I’m not kidding about this,” he said, though he added the state is not planning to fine people individually.
For the most vulnerable groups — seniors over 70, immune-compromised people, and those with underlying illnesses — Cuomo said these populations must remain indoors, going outside only for solitary exercise.
"These are not helpful hints," Cuomo said. "These provisions will be enforced."
In addition to civil fines, any New York business not in compliance will face mandatory closure, Cuomo warned, as he urged vulnerable New Yorkers to pre-screen all visitors by taking their temperatures and not to visit households with multiple people.
In addition to saying that all vulnerable persons should wear a mask when in the company of others, Cuomo said everyone in the presence of vulnerable people should, to the greatest extent possible, wear a mask while also always staying at least 6 feet away from individuals.
"Your actions can affect my health, that is where we are," Cuomo said.
As for public transportation, Cuomo said they should stay off unless urgent and absolutely necessary.
New York had slowly but surely been shuttering its public institutions — all schools closed Sunday, March 15, and bars, cafes and restaurants were ordered to close the following night, though they could offer delivery and takeout services. Museums and Broadway have been closed since last week. But de Blasio hemmed and hawed over whether to impose harsher restrictions, as Cuomo assured New Yorkers there were no plans in place to quarantine the city and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson called for a shelter-in-place order.
All week, Cuomo has taken issue with the phrasing of “shelter in place,” saying it smacks of warnings of a school shooter or nuclear war and that it could cause panic. His PAUSE acronym stands for “Policies that Assure Uniform Safety for Everyone.”
Cuomo said regional cooperation is important and that he would speak later today with his counterparts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Connecticut and Delaware.
He also said he understands people will be upset by the decision, and that he accepts full responsibility.
“These actions will cause disruption," Cuomo said. "They’ll cause businesses to close, they’ll cause employees to stay at home … they’ll cause much unhappiness. I understand that also.