Cuomo sends bill for coronavirus paid sick leave to Legislature

Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Monday sent a bill to the Legislature that includes paid sick leave for people required to stay home from work because of a coronavirus exposure.



"If the government is ordering a quarantine, even a voluntary quarantine that places a personal hardship on a person, that person should get paid,” he says.



The news comes as inmates at Great Meadow Correctional Facility in Washington County are producing 100,000 gallons of hand sanitizer a week. The state is giving it out for free to the most impacted communities, including New Rochelle, in an effort to combat price gouging.

"It's much cheaper for us to make it ourselves than to buy it on the open market,” he says.



A new policy is also in place that will close schools for 24 hours after a student tests positive for coronavirus.



This will allow the school to get disinfected, and for officials to determine whether or not the district needs to close for a longer period of time.

News 12 has learned that local health departments are responsible for doing random door-knock check-ins to ensure people are complying with mandatory quarantines.



A Westchester spokesperson says the county is doing just that.



Cuomo says the state will intervene if he feels local governments aren't following through.

News 12 will host a 30-minute call-in show every night this week at 7 p.m. from March 9 to March 13 where experts will answer your questions about the coronavirus. The show will be followed by a special Facebook Live Q&A. The call in number is 914-378-4610.

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