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New York to close all nonessential businesses to slow coronavirus spread

Essential businesses like grocery stores and pharmacies can stay open, but the rest will need to be closed by Sunday night, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces Friday.

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New York City is the latest on lockdown.

 Johns Hopkins Center for Systems Science and Engineering/Screenshot by CNET
For the most up-to-date news and information about the coronavirus pandemic, visit the WHO and CDC websites.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Friday that he will be signing an "executive order mandating that 100% of workforce must stay home, excluding essential services" to fight the spread of the coronavirus in the state. The order will be signed Friday and will go into effect Sunday night. 

As part of the lockdown, which Cuomo described in a press conference as going to the "ultimate step" to "close the valve," all nonessential businesses will need to shut down or have employees work from home, with the exception being businesses like pharmacies or grocery stores.

Cuomo says there are over 7,100 cases of coronavirus in the state, with over 4,400 in New York City. The order is not a shelter in place order that New York Mayor Bill De Blasio was considering earlier this week, though Cuomo says he is announcing Matlida's Law that orders those over 70 years old or with "compromised immune systems" to "remain indoors," stay six feet away from others and to pre-screen visitors by taking their temperature.

The news comes one day after California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered all 40 million on his state's residents to stay home except for essential activities such as grocery shopping. Newsom warned that more than half the state's population could be infected if strong measures aren't implemented.

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