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Commuters at New Rochelle train station express concern amid coronavirus outbreak

Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that the patient is a 50-year-old attorney who works for the Manhattan law firm Lewis and Garbuz.

News 12 Staff

Mar 4, 2020, 4:40 PM

Updated 1,735 days ago

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Commuters using mass transit in New Rochelle say they are concerned, but not panicked, after one of the city’s residents was diagnosed with coronavirus.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that the patient is a 50-year-old attorney who works for the Manhattan law firm Lewis and Garbuz. According to the firm's website, they see clients from all over the world, including England, Italy and Hong Kong.
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Riders at the New Rochelle MTA station tell News 12 they're not surprised that coronavirus has made it to the Hudson Valley.
"I think it's going to spread. There's no question about it. I think we got to take precautions. I do things I don't normally do. I carry around hand cleanser and I’m very careful not to touch my face," says one commuter.
It is not known how the coronavirus patient commuted into the city.
Health officials say the patient had no known travel history to countries that have seen an outbreak of COVID-19. They say the man had recently traveled to Miami in early February.
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The man was first admitted to New York-Presbyterian Lawrence Hospital in Bronxville last Friday, but was transferred on Monday to New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center in upper Manhattan.
The man is in critical condition and is being treated in the intensive care unit, the hospital said.
His wife and children have been quarantined.
The family attends services at Young Israel in New Rochelle. New York state and Westchester County health officials have ordered all services at the temple to stop.
In addition, congregants of the temple who attended services on Feb. 22 or attended a funeral and a bat mitzvah on Feb. 23 must self-quarantine until at least March 8.
Westchester County officials say those who do not self-quarantine will be mandated to by the Department of Health to do so.
The MTA has instituted a new cleaning protocol, and crews are sanitizing trains, subways, buses and stations.