President Donald Trump on Saturday raised the prospect of ordering a mandated quarantine on the New York metro region later in the day, placing “enforceable” travel restrictions on people planning to leave the New York tri-state area because of the coronavirus outbreak.
But governors from New York and New Jersey said they had not spoken to Trump about a potential federal quarantine.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, a Democrat, was giving a news briefing when Trump announced the possible quarantine measures. “I haven’t had those conversations,” Cuomo said when asked about Trump’s comments. “I don’t even know what that means.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said he saw the news “as I was walking into this room” to hold a news conference. Though he had spoken with the president as recently as Friday, Murphy said, “nothing like a quarantine came up.”
In a gaggle with reporters early Saturday afternoon, Trump said he was considering the measure because New York had become a viral hot spot. He spoke to reporters again about an hour later and said governors from other states had asked him to consider it.
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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Saturday raised the prospect of ordering an “enforceable” lockdown on the New York metro region, as the number of coronavirus-related deaths in the United States surged to 2,000.
Lawmakers from New York and New Jersey said they had not spoken to Trump about a potential federal quarantine. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the idea “preposterous,” and equated it to imprisonment and “a declaration of war.”
Trump’s announcement came as the United States crossed several grim milestones on Saturday: More than 116,000 confirmed infections, the most of any country in the world, and the death of an infant who tested positive for the coronavirus – the youngest person in the country to perish in the pandemic.
In Italy, where there have been more than 10,000 coronavirus deaths, fatalities continued to climb. About 889 people died in a 24-hour period, officials announced Saturday. The country’s case count, which rose Saturday to 92,472, is second only to that of the United States.
By day’s end it was unclear what Trump meant by suggesting a mandatory quarantine on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut could be forthcoming and how seriously the move was being considered.
Governors from the effected states said they had heard little from the administration and the most public guidance on the issue was provided by acting chief of staff Mark Meadows who told reporters: “We’re evaluating all the options right now.”
Trump raised the possibility of a mandatory quarantine on the New York metropolitan region as he headed to Norfolk, Virginia, where a medical ship meant to ease the burden on New York City hospitals waited to depart.
“Some people would like to see New York quarantined because it’s a hot spot,” Trump told reporters outside the White House. “I’m thinking about that right now, we might not have to do it, but there’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine, short-term, two weeks, on New York. Probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut.”
Trump later clarified that if enacted, the quarantine would affect “the New York metropolitan area,” but he did not specify what parts of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey may be impacted.
Lawmakers from New York and New Jersey said the president had not told them he was considering a regional lockdown.
Cuomo, a Democrat, who said he spoke with the president early Saturday about medical supplies, hospital beds and additional aid for New York, called the possibility “a civil war kind of discussion.”
“If he said that we are geographically confining people, that would be a lockdown. That would be Wuhan, China,” Cuomo told CNN in a blistering interview in which the governor said the possibility was “preposterous” and “a declaration of war on states.”
“I don’t think it’s plausible, I don’t think it’s legal, it would be total mayhem, I don’t have another word for it. Why you would want to create total pandemonium on top of a pandemic, I have no idea,” Cuomo added.
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, a Democrat, said he saw the president’s suggestion “as I was walking into this room” to hold a news conference Saturday afternoon. Though he had spoken with the president as recently as Friday, Murphy said, “nothing like a quarantine came up.”
Trump said governors from other states had asked him to consider a domestic travel ban from the New York area.
Cuomo called the move a slippery slope.
“This is would be a declaration of war on states, a federal declaration of war, and it wouldn’t just be New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, next week it would be Louisiana with New Orleans, then the next week after that Detroit, Michigan and so on across the nation. I don’t think the president is looking to start a lot of wars with a lot of states just about now for a lot of reasons.”
Trump did not give any indication of how this might be enforced. The president has the power under the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to issue a quarantine by executive order to protect the public from communicable diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control website.
“We’re looking at it, and we’ll be making a decision,” Trump said. “A lot of the states that aren’t infected that don’t have a big problem, they’ve asked me if I’d look at it so we’re going to look at it. It’ll be for a short period of time if we do it at all.”
He said he planned to discuss it with Cuomo “later.”
Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases said Tuesday that the rate of infection in New York City is eight to 10 times higher than in other areas, “which means when they go to another place for their own safety, they’ve got to be careful.”
The next day, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, a Republican, announced that travelers flying into the state from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut or New Orleans – would be required to self-quarantine upon arrival.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, a Republican, issued a similar order and set up check points at airports and along interstates with routes through the Northeast and Louisiana.
In both Florida and Texas refusing to cooperate with quarantine orders could result in jail time.
At a news conference on Saturday DeSantis threw his support behind the president’s possible lockdown of the New York metro area.
The president, he said, had raised the idea a Saturday morning phone call about rapid testing for covid-19.
“Whatever works I think we need to do,” DeSantis said at a news briefing. “How is it fair for them to just be air dropping in people from the hot zones? . . . It’s not fair to the people of Florida.”
DeSantis said a man who had tested positive for covid-19 was picked up after he got off a plane in Jacksonville, Florida, on Friday. The man had temporarily stopped showing symptoms and believed it was safe to fly, DeSantis said. Florida officials escorted him to a hospital.
Florida on Saturday reported 565 new cases of covid-19, bringing the state’s total to more than 3,600. According to the Florida Department of Health, about 4 percent of the state’s cases involve non-Florida residents.
Governors around the country have for days been begging the federal government for additional aid.
In Kansas, where the governor on Saturday joined 22 other states in issuing a mandatory stay-home order, hospitals were running out of supplies and struggling to compete with other states and the federal government for equipment like ventilators and personal protective gear for hospital workers, including gowns and masks.
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, on Thursday made a request for a federal disaster declaration, stating “we’re still not getting what we need from the federal government.” It took days for the Trump administration to grant her request, which the White House announced it had done Saturday.
Trump heralded the departure of the USNS Comfort on Saturday as proof that the federal government was working hard and fast to get help to states in need.
The 1,000-bed medical ship is expected to arrive in New York City on Monday and begin treating patients on Tuesday. The beds will be reserved for patients suffering from conditions other than covid-19 to free up hospital beds and emergency rooms throughout the city for coronavirus patients, Trump said.
“This great ship behind me is a 70,000-ton message of hope and solidarity to the incredible people of New York, a place I know very well, a place I love,” he said. “You have the unwavering support of the entire nation.”
(c) 2020, The Washington Post · Colby Itkowitz, Marissa J. Lang
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