NEW YORK • New York’s governor said Tuesday that he is sending the National Guard into a New York City suburb to help fight the nation’s biggest known cluster of coronavirus cases, as the battle against the U.S. outbreak intensified.

The move — one of the most dramatic steps taken yet to deal with the crisis in the United States — came as health authorities contended with alarming bunches of infections on both coasts and scattered cases in between.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said three schools and other gathering places will be shut down for two weeks in a containment zone in New Rochelle, the epicenter of an outbreak of more than 100 cases. Officials said the troops will help clean public spaces and deliver food to people quarantined at home in the zone, which extends a mile in all directions from a synagogue connected to some of the cases.

Officials would not say how many National Guard members would be involved, and there was no immediate sign of any troops on the streets. Apart from those who are under quarantine, residents and visitors to the community of 79,000 will be able to come and go freely, with no checkpoints set up, and businesses can remain open, officials said.

“It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster of cases in the country,” Cuomo said. “The numbers are going up unabated, and we do need a special public health strategy.”

New Rochelle and surrounding Westchester County account for the majority of the state’s 173 coronavirus cases. New York City, with 100 times the population of New Rochelle, has 36 known infections.

On other fronts in the battle to stop the virus from spreading, more schools and universities sent students home, conferences and other events were canceled, and the United Nations announced it would close its New York headquarters to the public and suspend all tours.

On Wall Street, stocks surged Tuesday after suffering staggering losses the day before, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 1,100 points on hopes the Trump administration would take steps to cushion the economy from the damage caused by the outbreak.

In Oakland, Calif., thousands of restless passengers who have been stuck aboard a cruise ship hit by the coronavirus waited their turn to get off the vessel and go to U.S. military bases or back to their home countries for two weeks of quarantine.

“I’m bored and frustrated,” said Carolyn Wright, 63, of Santa Fe.

“All of a sudden a two-week vacation has turned into a five-week vacation.”

In Washington state, where at least 19 deaths have been connected to a Seattle-area nursing home, Gov. Jay Inslee announced new nursing-home rules for screening health care workers and limiting visitors.

“If we assume there are 1,000 or more people who have the virus today … the number of people who are infected will double in five to eight days,” he warned.

The virus has infected more than 800 people in the U.S. and killed at least 30.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday that he is sending the National Guard into the New York City suburb New Rochelle to help fight what is believed to be the nation’s biggest cluster of coronavirus cases. It is one of the most dramatic actions yet to control the outbreak in the U.S.

the associated press