According to Donald Trump, the decision "will be made quickly, one way or the other." While remaining elusive on the exact scope of the measure, the American president spoke on Saturday of the possibility of placing in quarantine the State of New York, by far the most affected by the coronavirus in the United States with 52,318 cases and 728 deaths . The world's leading power, hit hard by the Covid-19, now has more than 110,000 confirmed cases and 1,841 dead, including 517 in New York City alone.
"Some people would like New York to be quarantined because it's a hot spot," said Donald Trump when leaving the White House. "New York, New Jersey, maybe one or two other places, some parts of Connecticut, I'm thinking about it," he added, while many jurists wondered about the possibility even for the American president. to impose such a measure. The objective? "Limit travel," he replied. "They have problems in Florida, many New Yorkers are moving south. We don't want that. ”
A little later, the Republican billionaire assured that such a measure would have "no impact" on trade between the states concerned and the rest of the country. "It would be for a short time," he said, saying he had a very good dialogue with New York State governor Andrew Cuomo.
Cuomo "don't even know what that means"
Asked a few minutes later on this subject, the latter was nevertheless very surprised, saying that the question had never been raised during his morning telephone conversation with the American president. "I don't even know what that means," he said, not hiding his perplexity. "I don't even know how it could be enforced from a legal point of view," he added. And to clarify: “I don't like this idea. "
The White House tenant went to the Norfolk, Virginia, military base on Saturday to witness the departure for New York of the US Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort, with a capacity of 1,000 beds. "We will stop at nothing to help the people of New York and our country," he said in a brief speech to a row of American flags lined up at the foot of the gigantic white ship.
This hospital ship aims to relieve hospitals on dry land in the face of the rapid spread of the pandemic. "I will welcome him with open arms," said Andrew Cuomo of the USNS Comfort, due Monday in New York. Her sister ship, the USNS Mercy, arrived in Los Angeles, California on Friday.
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Sign of the deep upheavals that affect American society at all levels, Andrew Cuomo announced Saturday the postponement of the presidential primary in New York from April 28 to June 23. Two of the other major Covid-19 homes in the United States, California (March 3) and Washington State (March 10), have already voted, while New Jersey is due to vote on June 2. Ten other American states, as well as Puerto Rico, had already postponed the date of their primary.