NEW YORK, March 12 (Xinhua) -- New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio declared a state of emergency for the city on Thursday due to a foreseeable COVID-19 outbreak, predicting that more than 1,000 cases could surface by next week.
The total number of confirmed cases in the city reached 95 on Thursday, doubling that a day before.
Twenty-two of the patients are currently hospitalized and the rest of them are in home isolation, city officials said.
"This is going to be a long, painful episode," said de Blasio in a press conference, adding that it may take six months for the city to deal with immediate effects of the outbreak.
Earlier in the day, New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state will ban gatherings with 500 people or more, including Broadway shows, as a precaution against the coronavirus.
The ban will be in effect on Friday at 5 p.m. local time (2100 GMT).
Other cultural institutions, including Carnegie Hall, the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Metropolitan Opera, announced Thursday that they would temporarily shut down.
New York state currently has over 200 COVID-19 cases and is the second most impacted state in the United States next to the Washington state.
