The authorities in New York, the American epicenter of the coronavirus epidemic, called on Donald Trump on Monday to declare a national coercive confinement while it ensured a return to business “very soon”.
The first American metropolis, economic capital of the country with 8.6 million inhabitants, had more than 12,000 cases on Monday morning, i.e. nearly a third of U.S. cases, and nearly 100 deaths. A total of 560 people have died in the United States.
Faced with this increasingly dramatic situation, anxiety was mounting among the inhabitants of this city, usually symbol of hyper-activity and decibels. The streets were unusually quiet after the coming into force on Sunday of new rules limiting activity to businesses deemed essential -supermarkets, pharmacies, internet providers- and making people stay at home as much as possible, even if the offenders do not expose themselves for the moment to any sanction.
Need for “extreme” measures
“These containment measures taken by New York and California must be everywhere” in the United States, insisted Mayor Bill de Blasio. “These extreme measures need to be taken.” Almost a third of Americans live in some form of confinement. Washington state, Michigan and New Mexico are the latest to order people to stay in their homes on Monday, and the California governor has toughened restrictions.
“Unfortunately, we see that New York draws closer to ItalyJerome Adams, federal administrator of public health, deplored that people do not seriously apply the federal recommendations of containment, non-coercive, announced last week, for 15 days. M. de Blasio as the governor of the New York State Andrew Cuomo re-launched calls on the federal government to order private companies to manufacture respirators and masks, which are sorely lacking in the United States, as in many other countries. “Yes, it is. an assertion of government power over private companies, so what? It’s a national emergency“Cuomo said.” We can no longer continue to be supplied on an ad hoc basis.
California tightens lockdown after images of crowded beaches
California Governor Gavin Newsom has toughened his voice against his thousands of fellow citizens who have broken the order of containment against the coronavirus epidemic and have flocked to beaches and parks. “We will close all car parks “located along these beaches or public parks,” with immediate effect“, launched the governor at a press conference.” We cannot let start again what we saw happen this weekend, “he said, referring to the images of crowds crowding the beaches from Malibu or Santa Monica, to visible disregard for statewide orderly social distancing rules since last week. Gavin Newsom has so far ruled out resorting to the police to carry out his orders, as is the case in some European countries for example.
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Donald Trump hésitant
For now, the Republican Donald Trump has resisted imposing such measures, worried about their impact on the economy, although about one in three Americans is already expected to live in confinement. “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” he tweeted on Monday, as the US Senate again failed to agree on a major stimulus plan for the economy. Later, he even declared that the United States would “very soon” reopen to the business world, “Much earlier than three or four months as someone suggested. Much earlier.”
WE CANNOT LET THE CURE BE WORSE THAN THE PROBLEM ITSELF. AT THE END OF THE 15 DAY PERIOD, WE WILL MAKE A DECISION AS TO WHICH WAY WE WANT TO GO!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 23, 2020
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For the city of New York alone, the mayor called for the urgent dispatch of “hundreds of respirators and hundreds of thousands and then millions of masks“If they don’t start arriving this week, we’ll get to the point where people cannot be saved when they could have been saved,” he warned. New York is also waiting for the assistance from the National Guard and the Corps of Engineers of the United States Army to install additional hospital beds.
The Javits Center conference center in Manhattan, in particular, must be transformed into a hospital with a capacity of 1,000 beds, pending the conversion of some hotels, now deprived of tourists. Mr. Cuomo, who visited Monday, said he hoped it would be ready by “a week to 10 days.” The governor also signed a decree requiring New York hospitals to increase their capacity by 50% – to reach 75,000 beds – while calling on them to aim for 100%. A hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, with a capacity of 1,000 beds, is also due to leave for New York in two weeks, according to the Minister of Defense Mark Esper.
“Nervousness”
New Yorkers, used to traffic jams and crowds, were adapting as best they could to this new reality of almost deserted streets., stopped construction sites, closed schools or drawn iron curtains. Buses and yellow taxis continued to circulate, in particular to allow health professionals and emergency services to work, but often ran empty.
Christian Hofer, 42, father of a family of two children yet very organized in the face of the epidemic, said he had struggling to keep calm. “I go through a whole range of emotions, ranging from nervousness to a feeling of absurdity: I saw a meme (comic editing, Editor’s note) on the internet that said, Our grandparents have been called to war, we are called to stay on the sofa … It helps to put things in perspective, “he told AFP.”I do tele-therapy with my patients, I’ve never done that before, “said Lauren, a psychologist, who gave only her first name.” I try to give them calming things to do, to tell them that they are not not alone, and to make myself more available “.
The first American metropolis, the economic capital of the country with 8.6 million inhabitants, had more than 12,000 cases Monday morning, or nearly a third of American cases, and nearly 100 deaths. A total of 560 people have died in the United States. Faced with this increasingly dramatic situation, anxiety was mounting among the inhabitants of this city, usually a symbol of hyper-activity and decibels. The streets were exceptionally quiet after new rules came into force on Sunday limiting activity to businesses deemed essential – supermarkets, pharmacies, internet providers – and forcing people to stay at home as much as possible, even though offenders did not. are exposed for the moment to no sanction. “These containment measures taken by New York and California must be everywhere” in the United States, insisted Mayor Bill de Blasio. “We have to take these extreme measures.” Almost a third of Americans live in some form of confinement. Washington state, Michigan and New Mexico are the latest to order people to stay at home on Monday, and the California governor has toughened restrictions. “Sadly, New York is seen getting closer to Italy, “said Jerome Adams, federal administrator of public health, lamenting that people do not seriously apply the federal recommendations of containment, non-coercive, announced last week, for 15 days. Both Mr. de Blasio and New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo have re-launched calls for the federal government to order private companies to manufacture respirators and masks, which are sorely lacking in the United States, as in many countries. other countries. “Yes, this is an assertion of government power over private companies, so what? It’s a national emergency,” Cuomo said. “We can no longer continue to be supplied on an ad hoc basis.” For the moment, Republican Donald Trump has resisted imposing such measures, worried about their impact on the economy, even though about one in three Americans is already supposed to live confined. “We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself,” he tweeted on Monday, as the US Senate again failed to agree on a major stimulus plan for the economy. Later, he even said that the United States would “very soon” reopen itself to business, “much sooner than three or four months as someone suggested. Much earlier.” New York, the mayor called for the urgent dispatch of “hundreds of respirators and hundreds of thousands and then millions of masks”. “If they don’t start arriving this week, we will get to the point where people cannot be saved when they could have been saved,” he warned. New York is also awaiting help from the National Guard and the US Army Corps of Engineers to install additional hospital beds. The Javits Center conference center in Manhattan must be transformed into a hospital with a capacity of 1,000 beds, pending the conversion of certain hotels, now deprived of tourists. Mr. Cuomo, who visited Monday, said he hoped it would be ready by “a week to 10 days.” The governor also signed an executive order requiring New York hospitals to increase their capacity by 50% – to reach 75,000 beds – while calling on them to aim for 100%. A 1,000-bed hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, is also due to leave for New York in two weeks, according to Defense Secretary Mark Esper. New Yorkers, accustomed to traffic jams and crowds, are adapted as best they could to this new reality made up of almost deserted streets, construction sites at a standstill, closed schools and drawn iron curtains. Buses and yellow taxis continued to circulate, in particular to allow health professionals and emergency services to work, but often ran empty. Christian Hofer, 42, father of a family of two children yet very organized in the face of the epidemic, said he struggled to keep calm. “I go through a whole range of emotions, ranging from nervousness to a feeling of absurdity: I saw a meme (comic montage, Editor’s note) on the internet that said, Our grandparents were called to war, we are called to stay on the couch … It helps to put things in perspective, “he told AFP. “I do tele-therapy with my patients, I had never done that before,” said Lauren, a psychologist, who only gave her first name. “I try to give them calming things to do, to tell them that they are not alone, and to make myself more available.”
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