Tension is mounting across the Atlantic. For long weeks, when China and then Europe were hit by Covid-19, the United States, and especially its President Donald Trump, seemed not to take this new coronavirus very seriously.
But Trump and the Americans have seemed to wake up, somewhat brutally, in recent days, with the virus which is now raging very concretely on their soil. There was first Tuesday the announcement of the placement in quarantine of two republican elected officials, who closely rubbed shoulders with the president, causing in the latter a radical change of doctrine. And also this assessment which continues to swell day after day, with 1037 cases and 30 deaths in the United States.
Especially, this Wednesday, we learn that the threat is at the gates of New York, since the city of New Rochelle, located 25 km from the Big Apple, is simply placed in confinement.
"Flexible" containment
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo said unspecified National Guard soldiers would be sent to a 1.6-km-radius "containment area" within the city of 80,000 inhabitants. They will be responsible for "supplying residents and cleaning schools," he said.
In fact, around this city in the New York suburbs, all schools will close and large gatherings are now prohibited. In contrast, the government has, according to ABC News, detailed a "flexible" containment plan, as people can still enter and exit the containment area and small businesses can remain open.
BREAKING: NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo announces containment zone around New Rochelle, lasting until 3/25; National Guard to be deployed to assist in food delivery, cleaning.
"This is the single greatest public health challenge we have in the state right now." https://t.co/ahVNf6GGbp pic.twitter.com/AXQhHOLQuv
As in China or in Europe, the Covid-19 therefore settles in the lives of Americans and disrupts their daily lives. Democratic presidential candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders both canceled their campaign rallies on Tuesday due to the epidemic.
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President Trump said he was ready to be tested for the coronavirus, but said he felt "very good."