The Rhode Island National Guard is going door to door in coastal communities on Saturday to tell visiting New Yorkers of a mandatory 14-day quarantine as a furious Governor Andrew Cuomo threatens to sue over what he calls a ‘reactionary’ policy.
The measure, while extreme, is necessary because the New York City area is the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in the United States and is needed to control its spread, Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo said on Saturday.
The order came the same day state police started pulling over vehicles with New York license plates to get contact information for drivers and passengers and to inform them of the quarantine order.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo (left) threatened to sue Rhode Island after its governor, Gina Raimondo (right), announced a new policy forcing visitors from New York into a mandatory 14-day quarantine
Rhode Island Air National Guard Sgt William Randall walks through the Watch Hill neighborhood looking for New York residents to inform them of self quarantine orders Saturday
Guards approach a property to check for New Yorkers. Rhode Island is sending the National Guard to hunt down any New Yorkers who have fled to the state
The National Guard has been deployed to knock door-to-door looking for anyone who has evacuated the coronavirus-stricken state and arrived in Rhode Island
Police have also started pulling over cars with New York state plates looking for any escapees
People who break the order faces fines and even arrest for subsequent violations, the Democratic governor said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Rhode Island on Thursday questioned the constitutionality of pulling over vehicles for no other reason than having a New York plate.
But Raimondo said Friday she has consulted with lawyers and is in line with White House and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.
Cuomo said that if Raimondo doesn’t walk back the policy, he will take her to court.
‘We’re talking to Rhode Island now,’ the New York governor told CNN on Saturday evening.
‘If they don’t roll back that policy, I’m going to sue Rhode Island.
‘No state should be using police to limit interstate travel.’for this
While Rhode Island’s response to the outbreak has been solid, the state is unprepared for a huge surge in cases such as experienced in New York and New Orleans, Raimondo said.
Because of that, she extended the state’s social distancing guidelines that include no public gatherings of more than 10 people and limiting restaurants to takeout and delivery service only until April 13.
A member of the Rhode Island National Guard Military Police directs motorists with New York license plates at a checkpoint on I-95 over the border with Connecticut where New Yorkers must pull over and provide contact information and are told to self-quarantine for two weeks
A Rhode Island National Guard Military Police officer directs motorists with New York license plates at a checkpoint in Hope Valley, Rhode Island, on Saturday
Raimondo on Saturday ordered anyone visiting the state to self-quarantine for 14 days and restricted residents to stay at home and nonessential retail businesses to close Monday until April 13 to help stop the spread of the coronavirus
Members of the Rhode Island National Guard Military Police wait for motorists with New York license plates at a checkpoint on I-95 near the border with Connecticut on Saturday
A member of the Rhode Island National Guard Military Police directs a motorist with New York license plates at a checkpoint in Hope Valley, Rhode Island, on Saturday
A sign on Interstate 95 directs motorists with New York license plates to pull over in Hope Valley, Rhode Island, on Saturday
The state’s two casinos will remain closed indefinitely while visitors will not be allowed at the state’s nursing homes and hospitals until further notice.
There were 38 additional confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Rhode Island on Friday, bringing the state’s total to more then 200, Raimondo said. Twenty-eight people are hospitalized.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.
For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, or death.
Other states are mimicking Rhode Island.
Florida, Texas, South Carolina and Maryland also require a mandatory 14-day quarantine for new arrivals from the New York-New Jersey-Connecticut tri-state area.
Earlier on Saturday, President Donald Trump said he was considering a quarantine for residents of the tri-state area, though it wasn’t clear whether he had the power to order state residents to stay put.
Trump told reporters that he had spoken with Republican Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida, among others, and that ‘a lot of the states that are infected but don’t have a big problem, they’ve asked me if I’ll look at it, so we’re going to look at it.’
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who criticized the federal government’s response as his state became the country’s virus epicenter, said the issue did not come up in a conversation he had with Trump earlier Saturday.
‘I don’t even know what that means,’ the Democrat said at a briefing in New York.
‘I don’t know how that could be legally enforceable, and from a medical point of view, I don’t know what you would be accomplishing. … I don’t like the sound of it.’
Later on Saturday evening, Cuomo blasted the idea, which he said has parallels to a ‘civil war kind of discussion.’
‘If you start walling off areas all across the country it would just be totally bizarre, counter-productive, anti-American, anti-social,’ said Cuomo in an interview with CNN on Saturday.
‘This is a civil war kind of discussion,’ Cuomo said of the proposal.
‘I don’t believe that any administration could be serious about physical lockdowns of states.’
Cuomo said that it would probably be illegal to quarantine New York, as well as totally ineffective, given the rise of other virus hotspots in the country such as New Orleans.
‘It makes absolutely no sense and I don’t think any serious governmental personality or professional would support it,’ Cuomo said.
Trump made his remarks while on a trip to Norfolk, Virginia, to see off a US Navy hospital ship heading to New York City to help with the pandemic.
At the event, he spoke to a sparse crowd at the naval base and cautioned Americans to take virus protections, even though he himself, at 73, is in a high-risk category and among those who have been advised to refrain from all non-essential travel.
The federal government is empowered to take measures to prevent the spread of communicable diseases between states, but it’s not clear that means Trump can ban people from leaving their state.
It has never been tested in the modern era – and in rare cases when any quarantine was challenged, the courts generally sided with public health officials.
Trump speaks in front of the US Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort at Naval Station Norfolk in Norfolk, Virginia, Saturday. He said he is considering quarantining New York and parts of Connecticut and New Jersey in a desperate effort to slow the spread of coronavirus
Courts have ruled consistently for years that the authority to order quarantines inside states rests almost entirely with the states, under provisions in the Constitution ceding power not explicitly delegated to the federal government to states.
The federal government, though, would have power under constitutional clauses regulating commerce to quarantine international travelers or those traveling state to state who might be carriers of deadly diseases.
Still, ‘it is entirely unprecedented that governors or the president would prevent people from traveling from one state to another during an infectious disease outbreak,’ said Lawrence Gostin, a Georgetown University law professor and public health specialist who questioned Trump’s ability to order a quarantine on states.
But as Trump traveled to Norfolk, he tweeted: ‘I am giving consideration to a QUARANTINE of developing “hot spots”, New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. A decision will be made, one way or another, shortly.’
When asked about legal authority for quarantine, the incoming White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, said officials are ‘evaluating all the options right now.’
Administration officials were discussing less-stringent measures as well.
One idea under consideration would be to tell residents of the hard-hit areas to isolate themselves and not travel for two weeks, just as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has instructed anyone who recently left New York to self-quarantine for 14 days, according to one person familiar with the negotiations who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations.
The measure wouldn’t necessarily come with any legal force or penalty, just the hope that people would comply in an effort to try to contain the virus spread.
The hunt for fleeing New Yorkers: The Hamptons wants to ban coronavirus refugees from the Big Apple
Coronavirus refugees who are fleeing New York City are not just face a growing crackdown from other states, but they are also not welcome in parts of their own state.
Locals in the Hamptons want to ban coronavirus refugees coming from the Big Apple and force those that are there to quarantine inside for 14 days.
Locals in the Hamptons want to ban coronavirus refugees coming from the Big Apple over fears they are spreading the virus
Beaches in the Hamptons have been filling up earlier than usual and local stores have been ransacked of goods as an influx of New Yorkers have been holing up there as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread
Coronavirus refugees who are fleeing New York City face a growing crackdown from other states who are using police and the national guard to force them into quarantine
Beaches in the Hamptons have been filling up earlier than usual and local stores have been ransacked of goods as an influx of New Yorkers and celebrities including Alec Baldwin have been holing up there as the coronavirus pandemic continues to spread.
Other celebrities spotted recently there include Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson and Anna Wintour.
Local leaders in The Hamptons are calling on Cuomo to issue a travel ban from the city, to stop any more New Yorkers invading their towns.
The leaders of four of the beachside communities wrote to Cuomo Friday urging him to take action and ban residents coming to the East End
A man goes for a jog in the Hamptons: Concerns are ramping up that New Yorkers looking to escape the pandemic in their home towns could actually be spreading the pandemic to the rural areas, after warnings issued by Dr. Deborah Birx, of the White House coronavirus response team
Residents are also calling for anyone who has recently arrived from the city to be ordered to quarantine for 14 days
The leaders of four of the beachside communities wrote to Cuomo on Friday urging him to take action and ban residents coming to the East End, after locals have complained of overcrowded beaches and grocery store supplies being depleted by the escapees.
Residents are also calling for anyone who has recently arrived from the city to be ordered to quarantine for 14 days.
But Cuomo doesn’t appear to be receptive to the idea.
‘I don’t like it socially or culturally,’ Cuomo told WAMC radio on Friday.
‘I don’t like what it says about us as one state, one family.
‘Also, I don’t believe it’s medically justified.’
Concerns are ramping up that New Yorkers looking to escape the pandemic in their home towns could actually be spreading the pandemic to the rural areas, after warnings issued by Dr. Deborah Birx, of the White House coronavirus response team.
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the New Yorkers are putting local Hamptons residents at risk.
Alec Baldwin and his wife Hilaria have posted Instagram messages from their Hamptons retreat over the last week. Celebrities have been holing up there to escape the pandemic
‘A new trend is taking place that puts our residents at further risk — people seeking refuge from the metropolitan areas. It is simple math: the more people that come, the greater the spread and the greater the confirmed case,’ he said.
Russell also warned that the panic-buying frenzy from wealthy New Yorkers stockpiling food and essential items has left locals without enough to meet their basic needs.
‘We have a limited number of stores trying to keep their shelves stocked and ration out supplies as best they can. Local residents are finding it difficult to meet even their most basic needs. Unnecessary hoarding and the recent, sudden expansion of the population by those who come are making it far worse,’ he told NY Post.
In another snap, Baldwin seems to be enjoying time outdoors, as he is seen getting friendly with a horse. Hilaria (pictured in another post above) captioned it ‘Important meetings’
‘There’s an influx of people we’ve never seen before. This is putting unnecessary stress on local resources and potentially on hospitals out East, which are very well managed, but have a limited supply of equipment,’ he told Page Six.
People with summer homes are still welcome, but people with no connection to the area should stay away, he added: ‘We are not trying to tell those who have summer homes to stay away, this is about the people who really have no attachment to the community.’
Southampton Town supervisor Jay Schneiderman said that local residents are worried there will be an outbreak due to the influx of people and that the area’s three hospitals won’t be able to cope.
Julie Macklowe has also been taking to social media to document her Hamptons hideaway from the pandemic
The influx has also doubled the population, leaving restaurants and supermarkets buckling under the strain of its new guests, he told the Post.
‘People out here are concerned that our hospitals and supermarkets will not be able to meet the needed demand if our population continues to surge. We are all doing everything we can to reduce new cases of Covid-19, but that is very challenging when new people are constantly entering the community from the NY Metropolitan area, an epicenter for the coronavirus,’ he said.
Baldwin and other big-name celebrities have been holing up in the beachside towns, which become popular havens from the rat race of the city over the summer.
Baldwin and his wife Hilaria Baldwin have both posted Instagram videos from The Hamptons in the last week.
In one heartfelt video from their farmhouse in East Hampton Baldwin encourages his followers to ‘all do the prescribed things for the next two months’ to help slow the spread of the deadly virus.
He also made light of the fact that he ‘couldn’t get his hair cut anywhere’.
In another snap, the actor seems to be enjoying time outdoors, as he is seen getting friendly with a horse.
Hilaria captioned the post ‘Important meetings’.
The couple have been there for several weeks.
It is not clear if they originally fled there because of the pandemic or were already residing there.
Julie Macklowe has also been taking to social media to document her Hamptons hideaway from the pandemic.
The beauty entrepreneur and socialite posted snaps of her packing up boxes including whiskey to take to her retreat.
One snap showed Amazon boxes and a plastic box filled with medicines and health remedies.
The Hamptons isn’t the only area where residents want to see the back of New Yorkers during the pandemic.
Rhode Island is planning to send the National Guard to hunt down any New Yorkers who have fled to the state.
Governor Gina Raimondo said the National Guard will be deployed to knock door-to-door looking for anyone who has evacuated the coronavirus-stricken state and arrived in Rhode Island.
Police have also started pulling over cars with New York state plates looking for any escapees.
Raimondo said at a press conference Friday that any New Yorkers found will be ordered into a 14-day quarantine and could face fines or jail time if do not comply.
‘Right now we have a pinpointed risk,’ she said. ‘That risk is called New York City.’
Raimondo said the extreme steps are legally permitted under the state’s emergency powers and that they are necessary to protect local residents.
‘I know it’s unusual. I know it’s extreme and I know some people disagree with it,’ she said.
‘If you want to seek refuge in Rhode Island, you must be quarantined.’
The moves come after White House coronavirus response team doctor Deborah Birx warned that New Yorkers leaving the state could be responsible for the virus spreading to new areas.
In a White House press conference Tuesday, Birx said any New Yorkers who have left the city should quarantine for 14 days.
‘Everybody who was in New York [City] should be self-quarantining for the next 14 days to ensure the virus doesn’t spread to others, no matter where they have gone, whether it’s Florida, North Carolina, or out to the far reaches of Long Island.
‘We’re starting to see new cases across Long Island that suggest people have left the city. This will be very critical,’ she said.
People shop for supplies in the Hamptons: Local leaders in The Hamptons are calling on New York Governor Andrew Cuomo to issue a travel ban from the city, to stop any more New Yorkers invading their towns
The leaders of four of the beachside communities wrote to Cuomo Friday urging him to take action and ban residents coming to the East End
Locals have complained of overcrowded beaches and grocery store supplies being depleted by the escapees
Reports have surfaced of New Yorkers bleeding local resources dry, spending thousands on bulk-buying food groceries
A couple embrace outside a store in the Hamptons. Holiday vibes seem to be in the air for holidaymakers rather than fears over the global crisis
But New York Gov Cuomo has blasted the measures some states and areas are taking to keep out the coronavirus refugees, saying he doesn’t like it ‘socially or cuturally’.
‘I don’t like it socially or culturally,’ he said Friday on WAMC.
‘I don’t like what it says about us as one state, one family. Also, I don’t believe it’s medically justified.’
The American Civil Liberties Union has also described the move to stop New York drivers by Rhode Island as ‘ill-advised and unconstitutional.’
Beaches are busy for March in the Hamptons: New York Gov Cuomo has blasted the measures some states and areas are taking to keep out the coronavirus refugees
Cuomo said: ‘I don’t like it socially or culturally. I don’t like what it says about us as one state, one family. Also, I don’t believe it’s medically justified’
Not everyone seems to be complying with social distancing rules on the beaches, some locals have complained
The beachside towns are usually popular among city residents in the summer – looking to escape the rat race and New York’s hot summers
Rules to stop New Yorkers in their cars in Rhode Island has been branded ‘ill-advised and unconstitutional’ by The American Civil Liberties Union
‘While the Governor may have the power to suspend some state laws and regulations to address this medical emergency, she cannot suspend the Constitution,’ said Steven Brown, the executive director of the ACLU of Rhode Island, in a statement.
‘Under the Fourth Amendment, having a New York state license plate simply does not, and cannot, constitute ‘probable cause’ to allow police to stop a car and interrogate the driver, no matter how laudable the goal of the stop may be,’ Brown added.
Governors in Florida, Maryland, Texas and South Carolina have also issued orders that New Yorkers must stay out of their states or go into a 14-day quarantine, as the rest of the US looks on in horror at the mounting crisis in New York state
New York state’s coronavirus death toll reached 603 Friday, an increase of 134 in just one day
There are now more than 44,000 cases of infection in the state of New York. Currently, 6,481 people are hospitalized and 1,583 people are in ICU beds
In New York City, 365 people had died from the virus by Thursday afternoon – an increase of 177 people in a day
As of Friday afternoon, there were 25,573 cases of it in the city – 4000 more cases than the previous day. One additional death was reported in New York City on Friday, bringing the total to 366. By contrast, Rhode Island had 162 confirmed cases on Friday
Cars line up by the beaches as more people head for some sun during ‘quarantine’
Governors in Florida, Maryland, Texas and South Carolina have also issued orders that New Yorkers must stay out of their states or go into a 14-day quarantine, as the rest of the US looks on in horror at the mounting crisis in New York state.
New York state’s coronavirus death toll reached 603 Friday, an increase of 134 in just one day.
There are now more than 44,000 cases of infection in the state of New York. Currently, 6,481 people are hospitalized and 1,583 people are in ICU beds.
In New York City, 365 people had died from the virus by Thursday afternoon – an increase of 177 people in a day.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 25,573 cases of it in the city – 4000 more cases than the previous day.
As of Friday afternoon, there were 25,573 cases of coronavirus in New York City – 4000 more cases than the previous day
One additional death was reported in New York City on Friday, bringing the total to 366. By contrast, Rhode Island had 162 confirmed cases on Friday
Southold Town Supervisor Scott Russell said the New Yorkers are putting local Hamptons residents at risk by traveling there
He and other local leaders warned that the city dwellers are bringing the pandemic to the areas
They are also not practising social distancing measures, many have said, and should be ordered into 14-day quarantine
People enjoy the sunny March weather to play on the beaches. Beaches are usually far quieter this time of year
One additional death was reported in New York City on Friday, bringing the total to 366.
By contrast, Rhode Island had 162 confirmed cases on Friday.
The beachside communities in Long Island have seen a surge in population ever since Cuomo issued a stay-at-home order to help stop the spread of the virus.
Several celebrities have escaped to their retreats there or rented homes as the US struggles to bring the virus under control.
Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker was pictured Saturday stocking up on groceries in the Hamptons, after she and her husband Matthew Broderick and three children have hiding out there since Cuomo’s New York shutdown.
After going into the store, the actress was spotted loading a number of grocery bags into her trunk with a pair of black gloves, as a precaution against the disease.
Earlier this month, Broderick’s sister, Rev. Janet Broderick, tested positive for the coronavirus.
Braving the supermarket: Sarah Jessica Parker stepped out for a trip to the supermarket in The Hamptons on Saturday amid the global coronavirus crisis
Anna Wintour shared a photo of herself staying inside her Long Island home and urged other not to go out
Scarlett Johansson and her fiance Colin Jost were spotted grabbing some takeaway in The Hamptons after they left New York City amid the coronavirus outbreak
Australian actor Hugh Jackman has also escaped to his Hamptons hideaway and is seen practicing social distancing
Last week, Anna Wintour shared a snapshot of herself working from her Hamptons home.
The 70-year-old Vogue editor-in-chief shared a photo from the official Vogue Instagram account, showing herself lounging in a chair inside her home.
‘Like so many of you, I have been adjusting to reality during the COVID-19 pandemic. Above all else, I have been doing one simple thing, and I urge everyone to do the same: I have been staying at home,’ she wrote.
This came just days after she announced that this year’s Met Gala is cancelled due to the pandemic.
Actress Scarlett Johansson, 35, and her fiance Colin Jost, 37, were pictured in the area last week, picking up some takeout.
Scarlett and Colin have been in The Hamptons since March 16, after the outbreak has forced his show, SNL, to be put on hiatus.
Hollywood actor Hugh Jackman was also snapped last week after he relocated to his family’s East Hamptons holiday house.
The Wolverine star was seen practicing good social-distancing practices as he got some fresh air in a secluded area around his lavish hideaway, during a dog walk along the beach.
Real estate agents have also seen a rise in demand for rentals that aren’t normally sought after until closer to summer.
The beachside communities in Long Island have seen a surge in population ever since New York Governor Andrew Cuomo issued a stay-at-home order to help stop the spread of the virus
Locals in the Hamptons, which is usually a summer hotspot for New Yorkers getting out of the city, have reported larger than normal crowds at beaches and busier beachside parking lots
Locals have reported larger than normal crowds at beaches and busier beachside parking lots
Nest Seekers International’s Dylan Eckardt told the Wall Street Journal that one wealthy New Yorker called him on his way out of the city to say he had a blank check and to find him a property to ride out the pandemic.
‘I got this call: ‘I’m on my way, driving out from the city. You’ve got to find me a house south of the highway with nine bedrooms, I want no one around me. I want a pool, a tennis court. I’ve got a blank check. Make it happen’,’ he said.
‘We’re renting stuff that never rents in March. There’s not even a price for it, because it doesn’t happen.’
The number of deaths in New York State every day continues to rise. There were 209 additional deaths on Saturday alone as of the afternoon
Supermarket shelves are being cleared by the wealthy visitors, as the panic-buying frenzy extends to the suburbs.
Stockpiling has been taking place all across the US as concerns over quarantines and lockdowns lead people to buy up essential supplies.
However, the new inhabitants of Long and Rhode Island also have the addition of neverending bank balances, meaning the trend has gone to further extremes in these areas.
Joe Gurrera, founder of upscale supermarket chain Citarella, said some shoppers are spending thousands in one go at his Hamptons stores.
‘I had one customer spend $8,000. You know when you see someone with a full shopping cart? Now they have five,’ he told the Post.
‘Instead of asking for one or two steaks on a tray, a customer will buy the whole tray. Then they’ll move on to shrimp, and buy all the shrimp, and then they’ll buy all the salmon steaks.’