U.S. District Chief Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York.

U.S. District Chief Judge Colleen McMahon of the Southern District of New York issued a standing order Monday morning that barred people who had visited five countries particularly hard-hit by the coronavirus outbreak in the last 14 days from entering court premises.

The directive, which cited Italy, China, South Korea, Japan and Iran, also blocked entry to anyone who had come into close contact with people who had returned from the countries in the last two weeks and would remain in effect until further notice, a court spokesman confirmed. 

Federal court officials in Manhattan are also denying entry to anyone who had been recently diagnosed with COVID-19 or shared close quarters with those who had.

Potential jurors were being instructed to follow the same protocols, and adjournments would be granted for anyone who was sick, elderly or had a compromised immune system, said district executive Edward Friedland.

As of Monday morning, Friedland said, the measures had not significantly impacted the number of people reporting for jury duty. However, if the threat continued to rise, officials could be forced to delay upcoming trials, Friedland said.

In the event of a juror shortage, criminal trials would take priority over civil matters.

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York had yet to issue public guidance on coronavirus Monday, and Chief Judge Roslynn Mauskopf did not immediately respond to a question about the situation.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit announced late Monday that it would continue hearing appeals as usual this week, but would observe the same restrictions for lawyers and pro se parties.

The Metropolitan Correctional Center, the federal jail abutting the Southern District courthouse in lower Manhattan, had begun voluntarily testing the body temperatures of detainees before they were allowed to report to court. The Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn was taking similar precautions, Friedland said.

David Patton, executive director of the Federal Defenders of New York, said his organization had been working with representatives from the courts, the U.S. attorney's office and pretrial services to discuss contingency planning.

MCC on Monday continued to be on "90% lockdown" after a gun had been smuggled into the facility, and lawyers continued to have limited access to clients, Patton said. So far, the Federal Defenders had not received any guidance from prison officials regarding policies and procedures for dealing with the coronavirus.

Of particular concern, he said, was the impact that emergency measures could have on defendants who were detained pending trial or sentencing.

"It's no solution just to delay [trials]. For some people who were being held pending trial or sentencing, they want to proceed with their cases," he said. "We're going to be as flexible as we can be for people who are not detained and are OK with delaying their proceedings."

Guiding the federal courts in New York state would be a COVID-19 task force organized by the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts to serve as a "single point of contact within the judiciary" to share information and guidance to the courts.

"In addition, individual courts are coordinating with state and local health officials to obtain current local information, and the AO is providing them with guidance on human resources, budget, and other operational issues, as well as continual updates from the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]," the AO said in a statement.

The AO, earlier this month, had also provided courts with a "model pandemic/infectious disease plan" to aid in emergency planning and "continuity of operations" protocols.

New York state courts also introduced measures to protect users of courtrooms.

All cases were administratively adjourned as of Monday in Manhattan Family Court's parts 45 and 46 after an intern was admitted to a Westchester hospital with pneumonia, state court system spokesman Lucian Chalfen said.

The intern, who attends New York Law School, has been tested for coronavirus but the results have not come back yet, Chalfen said. The courtrooms and robing rooms are being thoroughly disinfected while they're closed, Chalfen said.

Chalfen said he was not aware of any other court closures in New York City or Westchester County related to coronavirus. The state court system has a coronavirus task force that meets daily, according to a memo sent to all state court employees March 6. 

While public access to the state's courthouses has not yet been restricted, the state court system is "in the process of reviewing and strengthening [its] capacity for remote court appearances," according to the memo.

"We already have remote capabilities in many courthouses, but depending on how the situation continues to evolve, other than arraignments, matters could be adjourned," Chalfen said Monday.

The employee memo also said all coronavirus contact, "no matter how remote," should be reported to uniformed security officers.

State court system employees are allowed to take paid time off for coronavirus without depleting their existing sick leave, whether they are diagnosed with the virus or are quarantined or self-monitoring at home, Chalfen confirmed.

The New York State Commissioner of Jurors has asked jurors and potential jurors to avoid courthouses if they were diagnosed with coronavirus, suffered from flu symptoms or were instructed to self-monitor for coronavirus by their employer or medical personnel. Jurors in those situations should contact their county courts to postpone jury service "until this health emergency has passed," according to a memo issued March 5.

As of midday Monday, the Manhattan District Attorney's Office had not encountered case delays due to coronavirus, a spokesman said.

There are now 142 total confirmed cases of coronavirus across New York state, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday. More than three dozen of those cases are new, according to Cuomo.

The center of the state's outbreak remains Westchester County, a northern suburb of New York City that holds a total of 98 cases.

New York City has 19 cases, while Nassau County on Long Island had 17, according to the governor's office. Officials have not tied any New York death to the coronavirus.

Aiming to blunt the spread of a virus that has spiked public anxiety, Cuomo rolled out a new line of state-created hand sanitizer expected to be provided to state agencies and high-risk communities. The product would be produced by state prison inmates, Cuomo said.

The governor's office reports that New York will be able to make up to 100,000 gallons of hand sanitizer per week.

The Legal Aid Society objected to the fact that the manufacturing of sanitizer would be performed by inmates in state correctional facilities.

"Albany must pay these individuals the minimum wage and lawmakers must legislate to eradicate forced labor across our state for good," the group said in a statement after Cuomo's announcement.

Cuomo has repeatedly sought to quell public fear and said Monday that only a limited number of people are hospitalized in New York due to the virus.

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