NJ governor indicates quarantine not needed, says states are taking ‘aggressive’ action
New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy (D) indicated Sunday that a quarantine for New York’s tri-state area mentioned by President Trump wouldn’t be needed as the three states are taking “aggressive” actions to fight COVID-19.
Murphy told ABC’s “This Week” that the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut discussed the potential quarantine with White House officials and had “a lot of back and forth.”
“The fact of that matter is our three states — and I know New Jersey is obviously the best – we’re doing about as aggressive a set of steps as any states in America right now,” he told host Martha Raddatz.
“A travel warning we’re fine with,” he continued. “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
Raddatz pushed Murphy to clarify why Trump’s proposed enforceable quarantine wouldn’t be effective, noting that the number of cases in the area continue to rise.
Murphy responded that the state’s residents are “already getting the message to stay at home.”
“If we think within New Jersey there are stronger steps we can take we consider them regularly and we will take them,” he said. “This again as an advisory adds to a message that we’ve already — that we’ll have already been stark about.”
The New Jersey governor also said part of the growth in cases comes from increased testing in the state.
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
Trump on Saturday said he was considering an enforced quarantine of the tri-state area. In a series of tweets, Trump later announced that he would initiate a travel advisory instead after talking to White House officials.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have documented a total of more than 64,900 cases of coronavirus, with more than 1,000 deaths.
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