WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said Saturday he is weighing placing a two-week quarantine on New York and nearby states, the US epicenter of coronavirus infections, to slow the spread of the disease to other parts of the country.
The harshest measure yet by the US government in the face of the coronavirus pandemic could isolate over 10 million people in the country’s most densely populated region, and would come as total infections across the country have passed 115,000.
Trump indicated he could make a decision later Saturday, even as New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Trump hadn’t mentioned the idea in a phone call earlier in the day.
“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 said as he left the White House.
The measure would be aimed at restricting travel from the crowded region to other parts of the United States, especially the southern state of Florida, a popular winter destination for New Yorkers and others in the northern part of the country.
Trump himself has residences in New York and Florida.
“Because they’re having problems down in Florida. A lot of New Yorkers are going down. We don’t want that. Heavily infected,” Trump said.
Later the US leader confirmed the idea on Twitter. A decision “will be made, one way or another, shortly,” he said.
The New York area has been the most seriously hit by COVID-19 in the United States, with more than 52,000 cases in New York state.
Cuomo said a quarantine had not come up in his talks with Trump Saturday morning.
“I don’t even know what that means,” Cuomo told a press briefing.
“I don’t know how that could be legally enforceable. And from a medical point of view, I don’t know what you would be accomplishing,” Cuomo said.
“But I can tell you, I don’t even like the sound of it. Not even understanding what it is, I don’t like the sound of it,” he said.
The number of COVID-19 infections in Florida is much lower than New York, topping 3,700 Saturday according to USA Today.
On Wednesday, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis issued an executive order mandating two-week self-quarantines for anyone arriving or recently arrived from New York.
On Friday he made the same order for people coming from Louisiana, another coronavirus hotspot, and said police will put up checkpoints along the state line.
He also announced a two-week suspension of vacation rentals in Florida to discourage visitors.
“All we are trying to do is keep our residents here safe. If you are coming from one of the epicenters... don’t come here because we are trying to protect our folks,” he said.
But with coronavirus in all 50 states, experts said a quarantine on an area as large as the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut region might not be as useful as other more targeted measures.
Kent Sepkowitz, an infectious disease expert with the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, told CNN it would not really work.
“Certainly it does not help New York do anything. It cuts us off from everyone else,” he said.
“But the virus is all over the country now... So the notion that we can sort of blame New York and wall it off, and build a wall around Manhattan, that’s nuts.”
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Coronavirus: Trump weighs ‘quarantine’ of New York, nearby states
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Coronavirus: Trump weighs ‘quarantine’ of New York, nearby states
- The harshest measure yet by the US government in the face of the coronavirus pandemic could isolate over 10 million people
- A decision “will be made, one way or another, shortly,” Trump said
Hundreds march in silence to honor victims of Swiss bar fire that left 40 dead
CRANS-MONTANA: Hundreds marched in silence Sunday to honor the victims of the New Year’s Eve fire at a bar in the Swiss Alpine resort of Crans-Montana, which left 40 dead and many severely injured.
Somber mourners, many with reddened eyes, filed silently out of the chapel to organ music after the hourlong Mass at the Chapelle Saint-Christophe in Crans-Montana. Some exchanged hugs, others applauded, before joining the silent march up the hill to Le Constellation bar.
Many hundreds of people, some cradling flower bouquets, walked in the dense snaking procession in the bright sunlight past shuttered stores. Up on the mountain overlooking the town, snow machines sent plumes of white flakes into the air.
At the top of the street, in front of Le Constellation that is still largely shielded from view by white screens, the swelling crowd stood in near total silence, some weeping. Then they broke out into sustained applause — hands in gloves and mittens against the cold — as a stream of mourners and well-wishers deposited flower bouquets at a makeshift memorial piled with flowers, cuddly toys and other tributes.
“We are going through a moment of crushing darkness but we are going through it together,” one speaker said.
During the Mass, the Rev. Gilles Cavin spoke of the “terrible uncertainty” for families unsure if their loved ones are among the dead or still alive among the injured. “We pray for their friends hard hit by misery on this day that was meant to be one of festivities and friendship,” he said.
In the crowded pews, a grieving woman listened intently, her hands clasped tightly and sometimes clasping rosary beads, as speakers delivered readings in German, French and Italian.
Forty people died and 119 were injured in the blaze that broke out around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday at Le Constellation bar. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.
By Sunday morning, Swiss authorities identified 24 out of the 40 fatalities. They include 18 Swiss citizens aged 14 to 31 years, two Italians 16 years old, one dual citizen of Italy and the United Arab Emirates also 16 years old, an 18-year-old Romanian, a 39-year-old French and a Turkish citizen, 18.
A grieving mother
One of the victims was 16-year old Arthur Brodard, whose mother had been frantically searching for him.
“Our Arthur has now left to party in paradise,” a visibly shaken Laetitia Brodard said in a Facebook story posted on Saturday night, speaking to camera. “We can start our mourning, knowing that he is in peace and in the light.”
Brodard’s frenzied search for her son reflected the desperation of families of the young people disappeared during the fire, who did not know whether their loved ones were dead or in the hospital.
Swiss authorities said the process of identifying victims was particularly hard because of the advanced degree of the burns, requiring the use of DNA samples. Brodard also had given her DNA sample to help in the identification process.
In her Facebook post, Brodard thanked those who “testified their compassion, their love” and to those who shared information as she anxiously searched and waited for news of her son. Other parents and siblings are still waiting in anguish.
Bar managers face a criminal investigation
Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation of the bar managers.
The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, the Valais region’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, told reporters Saturday. The announcement of the investigation did not name the managers.
Investigators said Friday they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Officials said they also would look at other safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin announced a national day of mourning for the victims on Jan. 9.
France’s Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said 17 patients have received care in France, out of a total of 35 transferred from Switzerland to five European countries. Other patients were planned to be transferred to Germany, Italy and Belgium.
Somber mourners, many with reddened eyes, filed silently out of the chapel to organ music after the hourlong Mass at the Chapelle Saint-Christophe in Crans-Montana. Some exchanged hugs, others applauded, before joining the silent march up the hill to Le Constellation bar.
Many hundreds of people, some cradling flower bouquets, walked in the dense snaking procession in the bright sunlight past shuttered stores. Up on the mountain overlooking the town, snow machines sent plumes of white flakes into the air.
At the top of the street, in front of Le Constellation that is still largely shielded from view by white screens, the swelling crowd stood in near total silence, some weeping. Then they broke out into sustained applause — hands in gloves and mittens against the cold — as a stream of mourners and well-wishers deposited flower bouquets at a makeshift memorial piled with flowers, cuddly toys and other tributes.
“We are going through a moment of crushing darkness but we are going through it together,” one speaker said.
During the Mass, the Rev. Gilles Cavin spoke of the “terrible uncertainty” for families unsure if their loved ones are among the dead or still alive among the injured. “We pray for their friends hard hit by misery on this day that was meant to be one of festivities and friendship,” he said.
In the crowded pews, a grieving woman listened intently, her hands clasped tightly and sometimes clasping rosary beads, as speakers delivered readings in German, French and Italian.
Forty people died and 119 were injured in the blaze that broke out around 1:30 a.m. on Thursday at Le Constellation bar. Police have said many of the victims were in their teens to mid-20s.
By Sunday morning, Swiss authorities identified 24 out of the 40 fatalities. They include 18 Swiss citizens aged 14 to 31 years, two Italians 16 years old, one dual citizen of Italy and the United Arab Emirates also 16 years old, an 18-year-old Romanian, a 39-year-old French and a Turkish citizen, 18.
A grieving mother
One of the victims was 16-year old Arthur Brodard, whose mother had been frantically searching for him.
“Our Arthur has now left to party in paradise,” a visibly shaken Laetitia Brodard said in a Facebook story posted on Saturday night, speaking to camera. “We can start our mourning, knowing that he is in peace and in the light.”
Brodard’s frenzied search for her son reflected the desperation of families of the young people disappeared during the fire, who did not know whether their loved ones were dead or in the hospital.
Swiss authorities said the process of identifying victims was particularly hard because of the advanced degree of the burns, requiring the use of DNA samples. Brodard also had given her DNA sample to help in the identification process.
In her Facebook post, Brodard thanked those who “testified their compassion, their love” and to those who shared information as she anxiously searched and waited for news of her son. Other parents and siblings are still waiting in anguish.
Bar managers face a criminal investigation
Swiss authorities have opened a criminal investigation of the bar managers.
The two are suspected of involuntary homicide, involuntary bodily harm and involuntarily causing a fire, the Valais region’s chief prosecutor, Beatrice Pilloud, told reporters Saturday. The announcement of the investigation did not name the managers.
Investigators said Friday they believe sparkling candles atop Champagne bottles ignited the fire when they came too close to the ceiling of the crowded bar.
Authorities planned to look into whether sound-dampening material on the ceiling conformed with regulations and whether the candles were permitted for use in the bar. Officials said they also would look at other safety measures on the premises, including fire extinguishers and escape routes.
Swiss President Guy Parmelin announced a national day of mourning for the victims on Jan. 9.
France’s Health Minister Stéphanie Rist said 17 patients have received care in France, out of a total of 35 transferred from Switzerland to five European countries. Other patients were planned to be transferred to Germany, Italy and Belgium.
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