Two courthouses in New Rochelle, home to a cluster of coronavirus cases in the state's outbreak, are not in the "containment area" outlined by New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo. 

Cuomo announced Tuesday that National Guard troops have been sent to the New York City suburb, a dramatic escalation in the state's efforts to stymie a virus that has infected more than 100,000 people worldwide.

Cuomo said schools, houses of worship and large gathering facilities in the New Rochelle "containment area" are set to be closed for two weeks starting Thursday.

Lucian Chalfen, a state court spokesman, said two courts—a New Rochelle city court and a Westchester County family court—are outside the "containment area" outlined by the governor. The zone is a circular area with a one-mile radius.

Chalfen said they are monitoring the situation, but there have not been reports of delays at those courts.

Government officials say there are 173 coronavirus cases in New York, with 31 new cases. The epicenter of the outbreak remains in Westchester County, which holds 108 of the cases.

"One mile is a fairly constrained area. It is a dramatic action, but it is the largest cluster in the country, and this is literally a matter of life and death. That's not an overly rhetorical statement," Cuomo said Tuesday.

High-profile officials have not been spared from the virus, either. That includes Rick Cotton, the executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, who has tested positive for the virus.

Of the total cases, there are more than a dozen people hospitalized due to the virus, Cuomo said. He said the National Guard will deliver food and help clean public places in the containment zone in New Rochelle.

The deployment of the National Guard comes as New York, which remains among the states with the highest number of confirmed coronavirus cases, moves on several levels to quell the outbreak.

New York is also moving forward with a new guidance that will close schools for a 24-hour period if a student or staff member tests positive for the coronavirus. The closure would give time for schools to be disinfected and allow the state to assess the situation, according to the governor's office.

The state's prison agency, the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, said it started implementing a new visitor screening protocol on Monday. That includes asking visitors about any direct contact they have had to people with the coronavirus.

Meanwhile, prisoner advocates are urging Cuomo to pay prisoners higher wages after he rolled out a new line of hand sanitizer produced by Corcraft, an entity in the state's prison department that uses inmate labor to create products.

Inmates in Corcraft are paid a starting wage of 16 cents per hour and can be bumped up to 65 cents an hour, according to the state's prison agency.

"Of course they should be working, but they should not be working for slave wages," said Jose Saldana, director of a campaign to release elderly prisoners. "They should be working for wages that [at] least respect their humanity."

The state will be able to make up to 100,000 gallons of hand sanitizer per week, according to the governor's office.

Advocates on Tuesday criticized Cuomo for turning to prison labor to help stop the virus' spread and pressed him to raise prisoner wages. They also called on the Democrat to grant clemency to the oldest and sickest inmates, who officials say are more vulnerable to the virus.

Last summer, amid a quarrel over license plate replacement fees, Cuomo expressed interest in raising wages for prisoners. He said Tuesday the state is not making a profit from the hand sanitizer.