Published 14:09 IST, March 21st 2020
Donald Trump claims 'no need for nationwide lockdown' despite steep rise in cases
US President Donald Trump claims that there is no need for a nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus like what is implemented in New York and California.
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New York recently announced on March 20 that it will be locking down in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. President Trump has declared that the United States was winning the war against coronavirus even though the US has seen an alarming rise in confirmed cases and deaths. Governor Andrew Cuomo’s decision comes just a day after his counterpart Gavin Newsom told California's 40 million residents to stay at home.
Two hotbeds of the virus in lockdown
According to reports, Cuomo told reporters that all of New York was in quarantine now and that there would be civil fines and mandatory closures for anyone that violated the order. The lockdown takes effect from March 22, in the evening. The call for a lockdown of New York came after the total deaths linked to the coronavirus in the United States crossed the 200 marks. Presently the United States has 19,772 confirmed coronavirus cases.
According to reports, Trump has said that New York and California were the two hotbeds of the virus and that there was no reason to implement a nation-wide lockdown like it has been implemented in California and New York. Trump also said that the United States was ‘winning’ and that they were ‘going to win this war’.
We are going to WIN, sooner rather than later!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 19, 2020
As per reports, only essential business in New York is to remain open. The essential business includes grocery stores, pharmacies and food delivery. Governor Cuomo also added that that under ‘Matilda’s Law’ which is named after his mother, all non-essential gatherings of any size are cancelled.
The novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, has claimed more than 11,421 lives across the world and has infected over 2,76,293 people globally since it first broke out in December 2019. China is the most affected country in the world as experts believe that the virus originated from a seafood market in Wuhan city, the epicentre of the disease, where animals were reportedly being traded illegally. Italy and Iran are the other countries that are most affected by the virus outbreak.
14:19 IST, March 21st 2020