The subway is about to close. New York City is going to be shutdown.

These were the unfounded rumors elected officials found themselves battling and knocking down late Thursday afternoon.

The misinformation, spread by word of mouth and on social media, show officials are fighting a two-front war with coronavirus: Halting the spread fo the disease and the spread of fear.

"Look we have two issues we're dealing with. One is the virus, which we can handle. The second is the anxiety and fear that is being generated because of the virus," Cuomo said in an interview on NY1. "And that has many sources - how the federal government is handling it, you have all these people spreading rumors, but that's just what they are - they are rumors. New York City is not going to close down."

Positive coronavirus cases are expected to grow, and officials now are working to explore ways of expanding the state's hospital capacity to deal with the expected influx of new patients.

More schools are closing down today, and potentially for several days as more positive cases are discovered.

But Cuomo in the interview urged New Yorkers "to take a deep breath."

"We are New Yorkers," he said. "We are gutsy. We are gritty. We've been through a lot and we will get through this."