President Trump said Saturday he may announce a mandated quarantine on New York, New Jersey and parts of Connecticut.
The quarantine would restrict people from leaving the Northeast. The news comes after Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis told the president in a phone call Saturday that people infected with COVID 19 are traveling to his state, refusing to shelter in place.
“Some people would like to see New York quarantined because it’s a hotspot — New York, New Jersey maybe one or two other places, certain parts of Connecticut quarantined. 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 for New York, probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut,” the president told reporters.
“I’d rather not do it, but we might need it,” he added.
The president clarified the New York subway would not be shutdown. He also said trade would not be impacted.
“We’ll be announcing that one way or the other, fairly soon. This does not apply to people, such as truckers, from outside the New York area,” he said.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo reportedly questioned how the president would legally enforce such an order, according to The New York Times.
The president made his comments as he was going to Joint Base Andrews, as he will be seeing the U.S. Navy hospital ship Comfort off as it heads to New York. It is expected to arrive Monday to help alleviate hospitals that are treating a number of patients ill with the coronavirus.
Mr. Cuomo said data suggests his state would need 140,000 hospital beds and 30,000 ventilators.
He stressed the need for more ventilators, saying they are key when treating patients suffering from COVID-19.
“We are planning for that worst-case scenario,” he told reporters.
Mr. Cuomo is also asking pharmacies in his state to deliver medications free of charge in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus.
He also told reporters hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin are being administered to patients in New York and he will have results on that soon.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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