President Trump pushed back on rumors that the United States is close to implementing a national quarantine.
Speaking at a White House press conference on Monday, Trump was asked whether the federal government is considering “more aggressive” containment options such as a national quarantine or curfew, which would encourage citizens not to leave their homes.
The president pointed out that the U.S. moved quickly to stop travel to China, where the coronavirus originated.
“We’ve been pretty aggressive. We were early with Europe, but we were very, very early with China and other places,” he said. “People are self-containing to a large extent. We look forward to the day where we can get back to normal.”
When asked for specifics on whether he is weighing a quarantine, the president said he is not right now.
“At this point, not nationwide. But, well, there are some places in our nation that are not very effective at all, but we may look at certain areas, certain, certain hot spots,” Trump said. “But at this moment, no, we’re not.”
The White House National Security Council also tamped down rumors that the federal government was gearing up to impose a nationwide quarantine during the COVID-19 pandemic and called the rumors, which have circulated through text messages in recent days, “FAKE.”
Trump’s comments came just after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf called for all nonessential businesses in the state to close and nonessential travel to halt. New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy meanwhile recommended a statewide curfew and encouraged residents to stay in their homes from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
There have been at least 4,138 cases and 71 deaths in the U.S. as of Monday afternoon.
