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President Trump said authorities are discussing a national lockdown to slow the coronavirus but that it’s unlikely to happen.
“You can do a national lockdown. Hopefully we’re not going to need that,” Trump told reporters Tuesday at the White House.
“You know, it’s a very big step,” Trump said. “That’s a step that, I mean, in one sense would work. It’s a very big step. It is something we talk about but we haven’t decided to do that.”
Trump said that the number of COVID-19 cases would need to soar before he would consider a national ban on free movement.
“I just don’t think it’s going to be an action that we are going to take,” he continued. But entertaining the possibility, Trump added: “Anthony [Fauci and] all of the people standing behind me would get together in a room plus some additionals and we would make a decision.”
Trump said a lockdown is being discussed — but is unlikely — a day after the White House on Monday denounced a CNN report that a national curfew was under consideration.
The White House’s official Twitter account tweeted Monday: “Rumors of a national lockdown or national quarantine recently shared via text message are FAKE.”
Vice President Mike Pence said at a Sunday briefing that the administration would “respect and defer to decisions that are made by governors, by state health departments about what’s best for that community.”
“It’s a general Republican principle that we don’t want to give a mandate to these states,” a senior administration official said Monday.
In California, Bay Area communities including San Francisco have ordered people not to leave their homes except for emergencies or food shopping.
The number of confirmed U.S. cases passed 5,000 on Tuesday. New York now has the highest number of confirmed cases with nearly 1,400. Washington state is second with fewer than 1,000 cases.
Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday morning that he hoped any New York quarantine would be part of a regional action, though he said it’s not imminent and would only come after other steps such as closing businesses.
“I am resistant to nothing. Whatever we will do, we will do statewide. Ideally whatever we do, we will do regionally with the other states,” Cuomo said.
“There are people who just would panic at the thought of being quarantined,” Cuomo said. “[If] we’re going to impose a quarantine in Albany city starting tomorrow at 6 p.m., you know what that means? Everybody gets out of Albany city and gets to another location. [But] there are many, many steps before that, before you get to limiting an individual’s mobility.”
