Trump switches gears on quarantine, CDC urges tri-state residents to not travel for 14 days

President Donald Trump on Saturday night pulled back on a suggestion he made hours earlier that he might order a two-week quarantine for New Jersey, New York and parts of Connecticut besieged by the coronavirus.

The decision comes after state officials and some scholars said Trump lacked the authority to impose any such quarantine on entire states regardless of the pandemic.

Instead, Trump said in a tweet that the Centers for Disease Control would issue a "strong travel advisory" but offered no details. 

"A quarantine will not be necessary," Trump wrote. "Full details will be released by CDC tonight."

A statement on the CDC website late Saturday night recommended that residents of the three states refrain from non-essential travel for 14 days - almost identical to policies already in place in each state.

"The CDC urges residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut to refrain from non-essential domestic travel for 14 days effective immediately. This Domestic Travel Advisory does not apply to employees of critical infrastructure industries, including but not limited to trucking, public health professionals, financial services, and food supply."

Gov. Phil Murphy also offered no further details on the new travel advisory in a statement released late Saturday night except to say it was "non-binding." 

"To be clear, this non-binding advisory guidance does not change the rules that have been established and in place for over a week now," said Murphy, who spoke with Trump earlier in the evening. "If you have been working as part of our frontline response effort, from health care workers to supermarket workers, we still need you on the job."

Trump's tweet came about 12 hours after he suggested locking down the region from all travel — a move that thoroughly confused Murphy and his counterparts in New York and Connecticut.  

Earlier in the day Trump said: "We’d like to see New York quarantined because it’s a hotspot — New York, New Jersey, maybe one or two other places, certain parts of Connecticut quarantined.

"I’m thinking about that right now," he said to reporters outside the White House on Saturday.  "We might not have to do it but there’s a possibility that sometime today we’ll do a quarantine — short term two weeks for New York, probably New Jersey and parts of Connecticut.”

Story continues below the tweet.

At a news briefing later in the day, Trump said he was still considering the measure and would make a decision soon. The only details he would provide is that it would allow truckers carrying goods to be let into the states. 

"It won't affect trade in any way," he said at a naval base in Norfolk, Virginia.

Murphy and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo were puzzled by the president's remarks when asked about it at their respective daily briefings on Saturday.

Murphy said the issue was not brought up during a one-on-one phone call with the president Friday.

"I literally saw the story as I was walking in the room," Murphy said at his daily coronavirus briefing. "I've got no more color on it."

New Jersey officials reported 2,289 new positive COVID-19 results Saturday for a statewide total of 11,124 cases. It is the second-most cases in the U.S. behind New York with 52,318.  

There were 32 more deaths in New Jersey for a total of 140.

"We're about at the pace we thought we'd be," Murphy said.

When asked about quarantining at his 1 p.m. briefing, Murphy said he believes right now that New Jersey's aggressive social distancing will work to keep the number of infected down.

"Until further notified, we're going to be doing what we're doing because we believe the data and the facts are on our side," Murphy said when asked about Trump's remarks.

"Do we consider regularly about taking further steps, you bet, whether prompted by the president or on our own," Murphy said  

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Cuomo said at his daily briefing that he hadn't had any quarantine discussions with Trump and appeared to be puzzled. 

"I don’t even know what that means," Cuomo said.

He later questioned whether it was legal. 

"I don't know how that would be legally enforceable," he said. "And from a medical point of view, I don't know what you would be accomplishing. I can tell you I don't even like the sound of it, not even understanding what it is."

Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont tweeted Saturday that he too was unaware of any pending statewide quarantine.

"I look forward to speaking to the President directly about his comments and any further enforcement actions because confusion leads to panic," Lamont wrote.

Scott Fallon covers the environment for NorthJersey.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news about how New Jersey’s environment affects your health and well-being,  please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: fallon@northjersey.com Twitter: @newsfallon