President Donald Trump said today he's considering short-term quarantines of "hot-spots" of coronavirus outbreaks in parts of the tri-state area, where the number of confirmed cases continues to rise despite aggressive efforts to slow transmission of the virus.
"We're thinking about certain things," the president told reporters as he departed the White House to oversee the sendoff of a Navy ship that will serve as.a floating hospital to relieve New York City's overwhelmed health care system.
"Some people would like to see New York quarantined because it's a hotspot," the president added. "...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."
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he spoke with the president this morning, but the two did not discuss any mandatory quarantines, which the governor called a "scary concept."
"I don’t even know what that means,'' Cuomo told reporters at a briefing at the state Capitol. "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...I don’t like the sound of it."
This comes as governors in other states are trying to protect their residents from any New Yorkers who might be fleeing the virus epicenter of the five boroughs.
In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis has mandated a 14-day self-quarantine or isolation period for travelers coming to Florida from airports in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
In Rhode Island, police have begun stopping cars with New York license plates, and the National Guard will soon help officials conduct house-to-house searches to force anyone who has traveled from New York to enter isolation.
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