Whole-country problem with local region conditions (alternate solutions)

From Here’s How Much Downstate New York Is Skewing the United States’ Coronavirus Numbers by Matt Margolis.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, confirmed cases are not the best way to compare countries because of the discrepancies in testing between them. So, let’s compare these countries by the fatality rate per capita (per million).

Belgium (470.51)
Spain (428.68)
Italy (376.19)
France (286.53)
United Kingdom (228.28)
Netherlands (210.86)
Switzerland (155.29)
United States (112.04)
Ireland (107.34)
Portugal (67.37)
Once again, even with downstate New York included, the coronavirus has impacted the United States much less than other hard-hit countries. But now, here’s what happens when we treat downstate New York as a separate country from the United States in terms of deaths per capita (per million).

Downstate New York (848.45)
Belgium (470.51)
Spain (428.68)
Italy (376.19)
France (286.53)
United Kingdom (228.28)
Netherlands (210.86)
Switzerland (155.29)
Sweden (149.61)
Ireland (107.34)
Once again, downstate New York leads the pack and the United States (without downstate New York) doesn’t even come in the top ten (it comes in at #11).

We have a whole-country problem with Covid-19. I don't think Margolis is arguing otherwise.

While we have a whole-country problem, we have regional variances that drive far more refined solutions pertinent to those local conditions.

If you were to identify which areas have the highest density living, the greatest use of public transport, and the most number of international flights and population transience (people moving in and out of the region), it would likely be something like

New York City
Chicago
San Francisco
Atlanta
Miami

Just a ballpark estimation.

Given what we know about the spread of Covid-19, it makes sense that NYC would be the epicenter. It is among the most dense, it is the most dependent on mass transit, it has among the highest number of flights to and from Asia and Europe, and it has a very high foreign-born and/or transient population.

From there, all other cities are almost orders of magnitude less exposed. Chicago is almost certainly very similar in it statistical profile but probably less transience. Atlanta probably has a fewer percentage of international flights, but still a large number. Dramatically less dense. Hardly any dependence on mass transit. Miami even less exposed, especially since in international flights are disproportionately to South America where the virus has so far been less prevalent.

At some point someone will do a model with these factors and the results will be quite interesting.

All strategies and tactics should be fit for purpose rather than one-size-fits-all. We can rationalize why something happened. It is much harder to determine what should be done.

Given that NYC is likely the current epicenter and might remain so owing to its density, dependence on mass transit, high transience, and high international exposure, what are the policies which can be applied to NYC only while sparing the rest of the nation that does not share those attributes?