They aren't being honest about being out, or others in their household were going out and brought it back. Or when they did go out (market, liquor store, food) they were exposed to it then.

“This is a surprise: Overwhelmingly, the people were at home,” he added. “We thought maybe they were taking public transportation, and we’ve taken special precautions on public transportation, but actually no, because these people were literally at home.”

you walk in a common hallway, take steps or an elevator to take out your trash, get mail and packages, do a grocery/ pharmacy run, do laundry (if you don't have a washer & dryer in your unit).

If you wear a mask inside your apartment building, there is no guarantee that the people who rode the elevator 20 minutes ago or walked down the hallway or stairs also wore a mask. My son lives in an apartment building and has observed adults as well as young children in common areas and elevators without masks.

"staying home" includes people who ventured outside for all kinds of reasons, possibly including going to protest rallies or the dentist or the grocery store or the beach.

or who had someone else in the household venture outside to such places.

If the overwhelming majority are staying home, it makes sense they'd also be a large demographic of new cases.

This is especially true since "staying at home" happens on a continuum. I've been "staying at home" but still need to venture out for food, prescriptions, walk the dog, mail, occasional trips to the bank or ATMs.

Nobody I know is able to simply stay home 100% of the time.

Then too, I know people who are staying home but have people living with them who continue to work.

It's a highly contagious virus. The question isn't how come people staying home are getting sick. It should be: how many more would become ill if people stopped sheltering at home?

I have been working part-time remotely since that time. My husband goes out to get groceries and meds once a week. He is younger and has fewer medical conditions than I have so he goes. I disinfect everything when he gets home. He showers and I wash his clothes right away. I spray the inside of the car, I spray the bags from the store before I touch them. I know this sounds nuts, but it is what I do. Once he goes back to his university lab in a few weeks I will become more crazy than normal about when he comes home.

All I can do is my best to stay safe.

Hope you both the best.

So many people here think it is all overblown or a hoax (lots of Trumpers here).

and I haven't seen my moms in weeks, cause I don't want to kill her.

I am the one who goes out and my wife stays home.

We spray everything; wash my clothes and I shower each trip.

Also I wear a hat and face shield in addition to the mask.

It doesn't sound nuts. It sounds sensible, though difficult.

Fear and living with a scientist who knows the risks and wants me safe.

That is all

is probably like walking freely in a small town.

Shared HVAC systems with 500 other people in that building-- everyone is sharing the air.

But it would have been much worse if they were also out jostling on the sidewalk every day and interacting with an entire other set of people in an office building.

I'm glad the state has good leadership that considers the evidence and makes decisions based on that.

It survives on surfaces for a time, depending on the surface. Even if you never leave home, it's possible (though unlikely) to have contact via items coming in from outside the home.

Everyone lies.

one time, that's more exposure. Just shows it's out there, so stay safe!

My daughter lives there, and even if she goes out to pick up a pizza, it's almost impossible not to bump into a few dozen people in the process.

First and foremost, urban living is a major factor. As others have noted here, there are multitudes more interactions within the building before you even get to the street. Then in public, it is harder to move about without getting in each other's spaces.

But extending that further, urban spaces are more compressed. It isn't practical to buy a months worth of food or a 50 pack of toilet paper in order to hunker down.

It also makes people more inclined to cabin fever. I know if I lived in a studio apartment, I would have a much harder time staying put.

Perhaps most importantly, as the level of infection rises, the chances of infection rise accordingly. Nobody is perfect. We are all exposed to a certain degree whether it be on public surfaces or on delivered groceries. The more infection there is in your environment, the more likely it is that those exposures will result in an infection. You have to behave as if every person, object or surface you encounter is infected. In NYC, that might actually be closer to the truth.