New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said the tri-state area is already taking enough “aggressive” actions and that it does not need a quarantine order from President Trump.
“The fact of the matter is our three states, and I know New Jersey obviously the best, we’re doing about as aggressive a set of steps as any states in America right now,” the Democrat told ABC’s This Week on Sunday. “A travel warning we’re fine with. The fact of the matter is, we are all in flattening that curve, social distancing as aggressive as any states in America, and we’ll continue to be that way.”
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy suggests enforceable quarantine is not necessary for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut: “The fact of the matter is our three states… we’re doing about as aggressive a set of steps as any states in America right now.” https://t.co/uByl9xl0lY pic.twitter.com/qsifVrRc7k
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 29, 2020
When pressed on the matter further, he added, “Folks, they’re already getting the message to stay at home, we’re enforcing that.”
Pressed on why an enforceable quarantine wouldn’t be effective, New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy tells @MarthaRaddatz: “Folks, they’re already getting the message to stay at home, we’re enforcing that.” https://t.co/uByl9xl0lY pic.twitter.com/nQHpH8VH6w
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) March 29, 2020
After the president floated imposing a quarantine on New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey on Saturday, Democratic New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo called the suggestion a “federal declaration of war.”
“It would be chaos and mayhem,” he added.
Trump has since backed down from a potential quarantine of New York and the surrounding areas for now and has instead issued a “strong” travel advisory.
The tri-state area contains the most coronavirus cases of any area in the country. Nationally, there are nearly 125,000 confirmed coronavirus cases, while New York alone has over 50,000. New Jersey is the second most infected state with over 11,000 cases, while Connecticut has just over 1,500.
