Rich New Yorkers Head to Hudson Valley to Avoid Coronavirus

Some very rich New Yorkers are fleeing to the Hudson Valley to try and escape coronavirus, according to a new report.

On Wednesday, the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak a "pandemic." Wednesday night, President Donald Trump suspended all travel from Europe, except the United Kingdom, for 30 days. The NBA suspended its season after a player tested positive for the virus and we learned Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson are infected with the coronavirus.

Here in New York State, as of Wednesday afternoon, there were over 215 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in New York, including 52 in New York City and 121 in Westchester County.

The 259th St. Patrick's Day Parade has been postponed. Other St. Patrick's parades in the Hudson Valley have also been postponed or canceled.

As the potentially fatal virus continues to spread some families are leaving their New York City homes to their other homes in the Hudson Valley, Bloomberg reports.

According to Bloomberg, consultant Bettina Prentice and her family left their New York City home and have self-quarantined themselves in their Hudson Valley home. Prentice's husband had dinner with someone from London who later tested positive for the virus. After learning that, Prentice, her husband and two kids, ages 3 and 7, fled to their home in the Hudson Valley.

Bloomberg didn't say where in the Hudson Valley Prentice owns a home. You would assume it's not in the Lower Hudson Valley, where there are 127 confirmed cases. Many are in New Rochelle, where Gov. Andrew Cuomo created a coronavirus "containment zone."

On Wednesday, officials confirmed a second person tested positive for coronavirus in Ulster County. Executive Pat Ryan says it’s an elderly man who may have had contact with employees from the Wallkill Central School District. As a precaution, all five schools in the Wallkill school district have been closed until next week for cleaning. We later learned the man went to a medical facility in Orange County for his confirmed coronavirus test.

Many schools in Orange and Dutchess counties announced proactive coronavirus measures. 

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