Trump considers quarantining New York state

Ahhh...the famous President Trump "Others have asked/told me about this thing I just now thought about!".
tulc(classic Trumpism!)

Honestly it might not be a bad idea, though of course I have doubts because Trump has managed to fantastically bungle nearly everything he does.

What does he mean by short term? doing this for a week isn't going to do much. How will it be enforced? there is a LOT of land that borders these states. NJ is a relatively easy one, just stand guard at the bridges, but NY has a lot of border area.

Does Trump have any legal power to order this?

Kentonio said:

Does Trump have any legal power to order this?

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That's an excellent question.

Kentonio said:

Does Trump have any legal power to order this?

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Yes:

Legal Authorities for Isolation and Quarantine | Quarantine | CDC

Basically both Trump and the states can order and enforce this to help prevent the spread between the states.

It was last used during the Spanish Flu. The one issue with doing this, is Trump would have to 100% drop any narrative of this being a hoax or overblown, as he a federal quarantine would basically be admitting this pandemic is near the same threat level as one that wiped out 50 million people worldwide.

Vylo said:

Yes:

Legal Authorities for Isolation and Quarantine | Quarantine | CDC

Basically both Trump and the states can order and enforce this to help prevent the spread between the states.

It was last used during the Spanish Flu. The one issue with doing this, is Trump would have to 100% drop any narrative of this being a hoax or overblown, as he a federal quarantine would basically be admitting this pandemic is near the same threat level as one that wiped out 50 million people worldwide.

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Good answer.

The relevant sentence under
"The Federal Government "

Is authorized to take measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases between states.

The CDC has the authority to order it and Trump has the authority to tell the CDC to do so.

grasping the after wind said:

Good answer.

The relevant sentence under
"The Federal Government "

Is authorized to take measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases between states.

The CDC has the authority to order it and Trump has the authority to tell the CDC to do so.

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and I believe they would use CBP for the enforcement if i read it correctly, states would likely be using police/national guard.

It has already been done...

Vylo said:

It was last used during the Spanish Flu. The one issue with doing this, is Trump would have to 100% drop any narrative of this being a hoax or overblown

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How is that an issue? That was old narrative. New narrative says that Trump and Fox knew about this the three days before the first victim got infected in Wuhan.

Vylo said:

and I believe they would use CBP for the enforcement if i read it correctly, states would likely be using police/national guard.

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I wonder about the practicality of actually doing it though. Isn’t there a real chance that it would trigger absolute chaos with people rushing to leave before the roads were all closed?

Vylo said:

and I believe they would use CBP for the enforcement if i read it correctly, states would likely be using police/national guard.

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Makes the most sense. Keep the police for normal police activity and let the national guard, well guard. I expect most people to comply voluntarily. I already am. I'm not leaving my house except for groceries never mind leaving the state.

Sabertooth said:

It has already been done...

Escape From New York (1981)

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From when we had a Brit as president.

Has he still not realized that the virus is already everywhere? Quarantining the whole country might not be a bad idea, but pretending that you can contain this thing to New York is just stupid.

I'm not entirely opposed to spoiling the fun of those who want to run away to their summer homes, though, except that some are going upstate instead of out of state.

Kentonio said:

I wonder about the practicality of actually doing it though. Isn’t there a real chance that it would trigger absolute chaos with people rushing to leave before the roads were all closed?

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Possibly. It is going to go over like a lead balloon here because these are the 2 states the most familiar with Trump and his shenanigans. We are probably the 2 states least likely to trust him and the most likely to rush the barricades if we think things are going south.

Kentonio said:

I wonder about the practicality of actually doing it though. Isn’t there a real chance that it would trigger absolute chaos with people rushing to leave before the roads were all closed?

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There is that.

In fact, I'd be surprised if this announcement doesn't start that up. I know if I lived in New York City and heard that, I'd consider getting out ASAP.

It's a bit too late. We've now got clusters in cities throughout the country.

The Florida problem was due to Florida keeping the beaches open. If they do the same kind of policies as everyone else, there's no reason for people to gather there.

Vylo said:

Honestly it might not be a bad idea, though of course I have doubts because Trump has managed to fantastically bungle nearly everything he does.

What does he mean by short term? doing this for a week isn't going to do much. How will it be enforced? there is a LOT of land that borders these states. NJ is a relatively easy one, just stand guard at the bridges, but NY has a lot of border area.

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Plus what will he do if people try to force their way through, reminded of those scenes I hate in contagious movies of the plucky hero's trying to escape the qurantine zone, while those around them are shot.

essentialsaltes said:

President Donald Trump said Saturday that he's considering a short-term quarantine of New York state, New Jersey, and parts of Connecticut, as cases of coronavirus continue to rise.

"We're thinking about certain things. Some people would like to see New York quarantined because it's a hotspot. ... 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," he told reporters as he departed the White House.

"I'd rather not do it, but we may need it," the President said.

Trump said that the possible quarantine would be "enforceable" and "restrict travel" from those parts of the tri-state area.

"Restrict travel, because they're having problems down in Florida, a lot of New Yorkers going down. We don't want that," he said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that he spoke with Trump on Saturday morning, but that the two had not discussed a quarantine for the state.

"I don't even know what that means. I don't know how that could be legally enforceable," the Democratic governor said during in a news conference in Albany. "And from a medical point view, I don't know what you would be accomplishing."

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In a gaggle with reporters Saturday, Trump said he was considering the measure because New York had become a viral hot spot. He spoke to reporters again about an hour later and said governors from other states had asked him to consider it.

Those governors are probably more appreciative.

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South Korea flattened the curve without lockdowns. Their factories are open.

dqhall said:

South Korea flattened the curve without lockdowns. Their factories are open.

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We've talked about this here. South Korea quickly developed tests and were making them in the thousands within a couple of weeks. They were able to identify the initial few cases in their country and keep them quarantined. If we had done this, maybe we could be open now, as well.

Our issue is that it took us until the end of February to have actual working tests (the first batch of tests were defective) and it wasn't until late this month that we started to have thousands available. The issue now, experts believe we have millions infected -- most still untested -- and no way to know who has been exposed and who hasn't.

Maybe, after all the US has used proper social distancing for at least two weeks, and we can test all who have any types of symptoms, we can "re-open" and follow the South Korean model. The problem is, until we know people aren't infected, and can track those who have been in contact of those that are infected, we can't do that. And the latest reports are that many in the US are still not taking social distancing seriously -- which is why the virus continues to spread.