Governor Andrew Cuomo said he opposed a quarantine of the New York metropolitan area, a proposal President Donald Trump said Saturday he was considering to stop the spread of the virus from the most infected area of the U.S.
But Trump later backed off the proposal after severe criticism from Cuomo, other governors and health experts.
"On the recommendation of the White House CoronaVirus Task Force, and upon consultation with the Governor’s of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut," Trump tweeted late Saturday, "I have asked the @CDCgov to issue a strong Travel Advisory, to be administered by the Governors, in consultation with the Federal Government. A quarantine will not be necessary. Full details will be released by CDC tonight. Thank you!"
Earlier Saturday, Cuomo told CNN in an interview that he didn't believe a possible New York quarantine was legal and that it would be a "federal declaration of war" after President Donald Trump said he was considering such a tactic for the New York metro area.
"It would be chaos and mayhem," Cuomo told CNN. "It's totally opposite everything he's been saying. I don't think it is plausible. I don't think it is legal."
More than 52,000 of the nation's 113,000 coronavirus cases have been reported in New York state alone. The apex of the pandemic there is still 14 to 21 days away, Cuomo said, quoting his health experts.
"As a governor, I'm not going to close off my borders," Cuomo, a Democrat, told CNN's Ana Cabrera.
"This would be a federal declaration of war on states," Cuomo said, adding that he doesn't think the President is looking to start a war with states.
“I don’t even know what that means,” the Democrat said at a briefing in New York. "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.”
“A mandatory quarantine is a scary concept,” he told reporters in Albany, New York.
Cuomo, who criticized the federal government’s response as his state became the country's virus epicenter, said the issue had not come up in a conversation he had with Trump earlier Saturday.
“I don’t even know what that means,” the Democrat said at a briefing in New York. "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.”
“A mandatory quarantine is a scary concept,” he told reporters in Albany, New York.
Cuomo said that New York state’s deaths from coronavirus soared on Saturday to 728, from 519, still by far the most in the U.S. The total number of cases rose to 52,318, up 7,681 overnight, he said.
As he outlined the state’s broad preparations for the height of the disease, Cuomo noted tentative good news in a drop of the number of people hospitalized and in intensive care.
Patients in intensive care require ventilators – and Cuomo said he is seeking to procure 30,000 ventilators for when the disease hits its apex between two and three weeks from now. He said the state would also need 140,000 hospital beds.
“Before you go to war, you make all the preparations you can,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo also postponed the Democratic presidential primary from April 28 to June 23. Income tax filing will be postponed until July 15.