Trump considers QUARANTINE for New York, New Jersey, as coronavirus disease ravages Northeast amid military call-up of medical personnel
03/29/2020 / By JD Heyes
President Donald Trump said as recently as last week that he did not think a national lockdown was necessary to battle the continuing spread of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19). But he didn’t say anything about regional lockdowns.
As coronavirus infections nearly overwhelm New York City’s medical capabilities, the president on Saturday attended the launch of USNS Comfort, one of the Navy’s two hospital ships, which is headed to New York City. At 1,000 beds, the vessel also has several operating rooms, a pharmacy, and fully functional laboratory, staffed by more than 600 skilled military medical personnel.
“Our country is at war with an invisible enemy,” the president said, referring to COVID-19. “We are marshaling the full power of the American nation … to vanquish the virus, and we will do that.”
Trump and Esper watch the USNS Comfort leave the pier pic.twitter.com/5YmqZFnREc
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) March 28, 2020
Meanwhile, the president has authorized the Pentagon via executive order to call up 1 million reserve and retired medical military personnel to be deployed to the hardest-hit regions of the country as more than 110,000 Americans (as of this writing) and counting are infected with the disease.
He may yet have to take more drastic action, however.
As reported by The Wall Street Journal on Saturday, Trump is seriously considering placing a quarantine on New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, all hard-hit by virus, to prevent its spread:
The president didn’t specify what a quarantine would entail, but said it could include restrictions on travel from New York and New Jersey. New York City alone has more than 23,000 cases, nearly a quarter of all the cases in the country.
The largest number of cases continues to be in the state of New York, where 52,318 people are infected and 728 had died from the virus as of Saturday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said during a morning briefing.
‘I don’t even know what that means’
“We might not have to do it, but there’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine,” he told reporters aboard Air Force One enroute to seeing off the USNS Comfort as it began its journey north.
As for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, he told reporters he hadn’t had any discussions with the president about a quarantine.
“I haven’t had those conversations. I don’t even know what that means,” Cuomo said at a Saturday press briefing. “I don’t know how that could be legally enforceable, and from a medical point of view I don’t know what you would be accomplishing.” (Related: Dear clueless America: You are now living under the tyranny you deserve, for you said nothing when the Big Tech censors came for the truth-tellers who warned you this would happen.)
As for why the quarantine might be necessary, Trump referenced an executive action taken by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who, on Monday, ordered travelers from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut to self-isolate for 14 days, the infection cycle for the virus. And also earlier last week, Trump administration officials issued the same recommendation to anyone leaving New York.
“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,” the president told reporters outside the White House earlier in the day, according to Fox News.
“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 and certain parts of Connecticut,” he added.
I am giving consideration to a QUARANTINE of developing “hot spots”, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. A decision will be made, one way or another, shortly.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 28, 2020
Trump explained that if he did put a quarantine in place, it would most likely consist of restrictions on residents of those states traveling to other parts of the country. It would not affect truckers or trade, however.
“This will be an enforceable quarantine, but hopefully we won’t need it,” the president added.
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Tagged Under: Connecticut, coronavirus, covid-19, disease, lockdown, martial law, New Jersey, New York, NYC, outbreak, pandemic, President Trump, quarantine, spread, White House, Wuhan coronavirus
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