Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced March 10 that the state has 173 confirmed cases of the COVID-19 coronavirus, and officials are setting up a one-mile radius “containment area” in New Rochelle, where most cases of the illness have been found in New York. Three schools in the Westchester County town are shut down for two weeks, and National Guard troops are on their way. “This is not an exclusion or quarantine zone. No one is prohibited from entering or leaving the area,” said New Rochelle Mayor Noam Bramson. “This does not affect individual homeowners or families or businesses. It is purely a prohibition on large gatherings in order to make sure the spread of the virus is mitigated to the greatest degree possible.” Cuomo concurred that this action is not akin to a police state. “That’s the China strategy, that’s the Italy strategy,” the governor told MSNBC. “We’re not there in New York, we’re not there in this country. I don’t want to restrict mobility.” Jerome Adams, the U.S. surgeon general said, "This is likely going to get worse before it gets better." Locally, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy has suspended all in-person instruction, with students now taking classes online. Nora Mishanec for Columbia-Greene Media reports that some local senior centers are already changing policies ahead of confirmation of a local presence of COVID-19, and others are only advising hand-washing. Visitors to Catskill's assisted living facility The Eliot must fill out a lengthy questionnaire about their health and recent travels. The Firemen’s Home in Hudson has canceled all events and outside trips, and is asking residents’ families not to visit. “We are moving into being more isolated and protective of our residents,” Administrator Bob Sussingham said. Columbia County’s Meals on Wheels program is stocking extra meals for seniors in case of a delivery stoppage, said Office for the Aging Administrator Kevin McDonald. And News10 in Albany reports that business is down at one Hudson hotel because of COVID-19. “This week, for example, we were scheduled to be up to 80 percent, at 85 [percent capacity]. We’re currently at about 35 percent [capacity],” Wick Hotel Operations Manager Mario Trindade said.