New York officials on Tuesday said they would enact a "containment area" consisting of a one-mile radius in the Westchester County city of New Rochelle, which has been the site of dozens of conoravirus cases, beginning on Thursday and running until March 25. 

Schools in the area will close as will "large facilities" that can host gatherings,  Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference. 

Supermarkets and restaurants will not be subject to closure and people will not be able to drive and walk through the area, Cuomo said. The New York National Guard is being deployed to help deliver food and providing cleaning services. 

The step announced on Tuesday is the most significant step taken to date since the spread of coronavirus in New York by state officials. 

There are now 173 positive cases in the state, with 108 of those cases in Westchester County alone. 

"This can't be a political decision," Cuomo said, who backed the recommendation to create the containment area made by Health Commissioner Howard Zucker. "This is a public health decision." 

Cuomo acknowledged the area will create a "period of disruption." 

Assemblywoman Amy Paulin, a Democrat from Westchester County who represents the area of New Rochelle affected, attended the news conference, learning most of the details as reporters did. 

"I'm going to need to know a lot more detail," she said. 

Paulin said she was briefed on the top line information shortly before the news conference. She said there will be an impact on low-income students who get their meals at school.

"It's better than if it was all the schools," she said. "The district has 52 percent free and reduced lunch kids."