President Donald Trump spoke in Norfolk, Virginia, on Saturday, stating that he is considering a short-term quarantine of the New York City area to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
“I am now considering and will make a decision very quickly, very shortly, a quarantine because it’s such a hot area of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut,” Trump said. “We’ll be announcing that very soon.”
The president traveled to Norfolk to see off the USNS Comfort hospital ship as it heads to New York City.
He said the quarantine would not affect truckers making deliveries or traveling through the areas and that it would not affect shipping to the city.
The president also discussed the issue with reporters outside the White House.
“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 said.
He stated that many New Yorkers were traveling to Florida, raising the possibility of spreading the virus to the state.
“They’re having problems down in Florida. A lot of New Yorkers are going down. We don’t want that,” Trump said. “Heavily infected.”
The president said he would rather not institute a quarantine but that it might be necessary and that he was speaking with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
“You know, I’d rather not do it, but we may need it,” he said.
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