President Donald Trump said on Saturday he might prohibit travel in and out of the New York area to limit the spread of the coronavirus from its US epicentre, but the state’s governor dubbed the idea “anti-American” and said he would not cooperate.
As the US death count crossed 2000, doubling in three days, Trump said he might impose a quarantine on New York and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut to protect other states that have yet to bear the brunt.
In this video , US death toll on coronavirus tops 1000:
“They’re having problems down in Florida. A lot of New Yorkers are going down. We don’t want that,” Trump told reporters.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said a travel ban would cause chaos.
“If you started walling off areas all across the country it would be totally bizarre, counter-productive, anti-American,” he said . “It makes absolutely no sense and I don’t think any serious governmental personality or professional would support it.”
Since the virus first appeared in the United States in late January, Trump has vacillated between playing down the risks of infection and urging Americans to take steps to slow its spread.
The United States now has more than 120 000 confirmed cases, the highest figure in the world.
Trump has also been reluctant to invoke emergency powers to order US companies to produce much-needed medical supplies, despite the pleas of governors and hospital workers.
