New York state is joining California in ordering nearly all residents to stay home, as governors watch with growing alarm as southern Europe buckles under the strain of the coronavirus outbreak.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo says New York is going to “close the valve," because its hospital system could become overwhelmed.

The move came after California, the nation's most populous state with some 40 million people, all but confined its population in the biggest lockdown in the U.S.

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