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By KATY O'DONNELL
People walk along a sidewalk March 28 in the in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images
President Donald Trump’s idea of imposing statewide quarantines on
“hot spots” like New York won’t stop the virus from seeping into the
rest of the country, according to public health experts.Trump’s suggestion that he could put New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on lockdown was met with broad derision within the public health community on Saturday, which also questioned his legal authority and dismissed the idea as unproductive.
“The energy required to even begin to enforce something like that is probably better spent on core public health response activities,” said Joshua Sharfstein, a public health professor at Johns Hopkins University.
The New York metro area has fast become the hardest-hit region in the
U.S., as coronavirus cases skyrocket and hospitals warn they’re at risk
of being overrun with cases.The governors of New York and New Jersey
have already imposed strict social distancing restrictions, with federal
officials urging those traveling out of the area to immediately
self-isolate.
Trump’s proposal would be even more draconian, and effectively prohibit travel from New York, New Jersey or Connecticut to other states through what he termed “an enforceable quarantine.”
Yet that would accomplish little, health experts said, warning that the U.S. is well past trying to contain coronavirus to certain geographic regions — and should focus instead on identifying the next batch of hot spots.
“New York is further ahead on the path that the whole country is on,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development and former Obama-era foreign aid official. “What we don’t need is inconsistent social distancing and quarantining policies that are driven by presidential tweet.”
Indeed, cases have begun to pile up in cities, including New Orleans, Chicago and Detroit. And given the time it typically takes for people to show symptoms, go to a doctor and receive their test results, public health experts said the official numbers could already be two to three weeks out of date.
It’s also unclear whether the Trump administration has authority to force quarantines on states without governors’ approval. Trump’s suggestion he might close off New York appeared to catch Gov. Andrew Cuomo by surprise.
Trump’s proposal would be even more draconian, and effectively prohibit travel from New York, New Jersey or Connecticut to other states through what he termed “an enforceable quarantine.”
Yet that would accomplish little, health experts said, warning that the U.S. is well past trying to contain coronavirus to certain geographic regions — and should focus instead on identifying the next batch of hot spots.
“New York is further ahead on the path that the whole country is on,” said Jeremy Konyndyk, a senior policy fellow at the Center for Global Development and former Obama-era foreign aid official. “What we don’t need is inconsistent social distancing and quarantining policies that are driven by presidential tweet.”
Indeed, cases have begun to pile up in cities, including New Orleans, Chicago and Detroit. And given the time it typically takes for people to show symptoms, go to a doctor and receive their test results, public health experts said the official numbers could already be two to three weeks out of date.
It’s also unclear whether the Trump administration has authority to force quarantines on states without governors’ approval. Trump’s suggestion he might close off New York appeared to catch Gov. Andrew Cuomo by surprise.
“I don’t even know what that means,” he told reporters, adding that he doesn’t “like the sound of it.”
Georgetown
University health law professor Lawrence Gostin immediately questioned
the constitutionality of federally imposed quarantines, tweeting that it likely wouldn’t be constitutional without Congress’ approval.
But conservative legal scholars like John Yoo at the University of
California, Berkeley contend the president can block interstate travel
through the Public Health Service Act, in order to prevent disease
spread or transmission from one state to another. Governors can still
set up quarantines within their state borders.
Joyce Lee Malcolm, professor of constitutional law at George Mason University in Virginia, noted that even administration critics have urged Trump to invoke wartime powers to get manufacturers to start producing medical equipment like masks and ventilators, as well as deploy military hospital ships to assist states.
“A lot of people tend to forget that the federal system really comes into play here,” Malcolm said. “They either want the president to do a lot that should be left to the states, or they feel that he’s overreaching.”
Trump's quarantine plan came after Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, earlier this week recommended that any traveler leaving New York enter a 14-day quarantine to help curb the spread of the virus.
Governors from Texas, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Florida this week ordered 14-day quarantines for some or all travelers arriving from other states.
Trump's idea echoed the way China cut off Hubei Province, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, from the rest of the country in February to try to curb the virus spread. Trump on Friday told reporters he’d discussed the coronavirus response at length with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Later on Saturday, Trump said that he planned to make a decision on the quarantines “very quickly,” adding that if he followed through, it would not affect trade.
But in the meantime, his vague hints at such significant action only served to sow more confusion amid a federal response effort that public health experts have already criticized as haphazard and unfocused.
“It’s just hugely irresponsible as risk messaging,” Konyndyk said. “It’s like a reality TV teaser. And I suppose it’s effective as reality television, but it’s deeply ineffective as governance.”
Joyce Lee Malcolm, professor of constitutional law at George Mason University in Virginia, noted that even administration critics have urged Trump to invoke wartime powers to get manufacturers to start producing medical equipment like masks and ventilators, as well as deploy military hospital ships to assist states.
“A lot of people tend to forget that the federal system really comes into play here,” Malcolm said. “They either want the president to do a lot that should be left to the states, or they feel that he’s overreaching.”
Trump's quarantine plan came after Dr. Deborah Birx, response coordinator for the White House coronavirus task force, earlier this week recommended that any traveler leaving New York enter a 14-day quarantine to help curb the spread of the virus.
Governors from Texas, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and Florida this week ordered 14-day quarantines for some or all travelers arriving from other states.
Trump's idea echoed the way China cut off Hubei Province, the original epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak, from the rest of the country in February to try to curb the virus spread. Trump on Friday told reporters he’d discussed the coronavirus response at length with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
Later on Saturday, Trump said that he planned to make a decision on the quarantines “very quickly,” adding that if he followed through, it would not affect trade.
But in the meantime, his vague hints at such significant action only served to sow more confusion amid a federal response effort that public health experts have already criticized as haphazard and unfocused.
“It’s just hugely irresponsible as risk messaging,” Konyndyk said. “It’s like a reality TV teaser. And I suppose it’s effective as reality television, but it’s deeply ineffective as governance.”
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