New York City mayor Bill de Blasio has told residents they should be prepared for a possible a shelter-in-place order over the coming days.

In his statement on Tuesday, de Blasio said he wants city and state officials to make a decision within 48 hours given the ongoing spread of the coronavirus.

New York would be the second US location to issue such an order after six San Francisco Bay-area counties put a “shelter-in-place” order into effect on Tuesday.

“We’re absolutely considering that,” de Blasio said at what has become a daily coronavirus briefing at City Hall. “We’re going to look at all other options, but it could get to that for sure for the whole country.”

Governor Andrew Cuomo, however, has dampened expectations of such an order. “The emergency policies that have been issued are of statewide impact, and the governor is making every effort to coordinate these policies with our surrounding states,” Cuomo’s office said in a release shortly after de Blasio’s comments. “Any blanket quarantine or shelter-in-place policy would require state action and as the governor has said, there is no consideration of that for any locality at this time.”

A shelter-in-place order calls for all residents to stay indoors apart from essential reasons to leave the house.

It is most likely that instructions specific to New York would be given if an official order is put in place. In California, residents are allowed to leave their homes to buy groceries and go to the pharmacy, with supermarkets remaining open, and restaurants providing pickup and delivery.

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Similarly for work, people would likely be told not to go unless they have “essential” jobs. This would exempt people who work in food stores, pharmacies, collect garbage, and work in certain healthcare roles.

People are not meant to travel aside from essential reasons. It is likely people would be allowed to exercise - as they have been in California - as long as they practice social-distancing.

According to the California order, failure to comply “is a misdemeanour punishable by fine, imprisonment, or both”.

De Blasio said the New York Police Department and fire departments would enforce the potential order.

More than 1,500 people have tested positive for Covid-19 in New York - 814 of those in the city - and twelve people have died in the state.