White House officials said Tuesday that anyone who has recently been to New York should self quarantine for 14 days.
Dr Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House task force, warned that people leaving the hardest hit area of the United States might not be sick, but could have been exposed to the virus.
She said: 'We remain deeply concerned about New York City and the New York metro area. About 56 percent of all cases in the United States are coming out of the NY metro area.'
Vice president Mike Pence echoed the concerns of Dr Birx during their daily coronavirus briefing.
It comes after Mayor Bill de Blasio called his city the epicenter of the outbreak with 1 in every 1,000 residents infected. There are now 25,665 cases of the virus in New York, including 14,904 in New York City. On Tuesday afternoon de Blasio said 131 people in the city had died.
De Blasio also announced Tuesday that the city hopes to close two streets per borough by Thursday for outdoor exercise; parks currently remain open.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, who is advising President Donald Trump on the pandemic, says about one per 1,000 people leaving New York are infected. He says that's eight to 10 times more than in other areas.
There are concerns that a cluster of cases in Long Island is a result of people leaving the city for their vacation homes.
Birx said: 'That suggests people have left the city, so this will be very critical that those individuals do self-quarantine in their homes over these next 14 days to make sure they don’t pass the virus.'
The vice president echoed Dr Deborah Birx, pictured, the response coordinator for the White House task force, during their daily coronavirus briefing on Tuesday
People who have been to New York should self quarantine no matter where you are now, Mike Pence said. Pence thanked American for following the President's Coronavirus Guidelines
Dr Deborah Birx, the response coordinator for the White House task force, warned that people leaving the hardest hit area of the United States might not be sick, but could have been exposed to the virus; people gather in Riverside Park and Central Park Tuesday
People gather in Riverside Park and Central Park Tuesday
President Trump said Tuesday he is hoping the United States will be reopened by Easter contradicting the warnings of some public health officials.
Health experts have made clear that unless Americans continue to dramatically limit social interaction — staying home from work and isolating themselves — the number of infections will overwhelm the health care system, as it has in parts of Italy, leading to many more deaths.
Trump's Easter target was not immediately embraced by Dr Birx, who indicated any move would have to be guided by data still being collected.
She suggested that public health professionals could recommend a general easing, while pushing for local restrictions to remain in the hardest-hit areas.
People gather in Prospect Park in Brooklyn on Tuesday; De Blasio also announced Tuesday that the city hopes to close two streets per borough by Thursday for outdoor exercise
During a press briefing Tuesday evening, Trump said public health officials and economists were 'working to develop a sophisticated plan to open the economy as soon as the time is right — based on the best science, the best modeling and the best medical research there is anywhere on earth.'
Dr Fauci said: No one is going to want to tone down anything when you see what is going on in a place like New York City.'
There are now more than 25,000 cases of coronavirus in the state of New York, including 14,904 in New York City alone
There are concerns that a cluster of cases in Long Island is a result of people leaving the city for their vacation homes. A deserted Brooklyn is pictured Tuesday
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday afternoon that President Trump has sent 4,000 ventilators to New York after being slammed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo for only sending 400 this morning when the state needs at least 30,000 to fight the coronavirus.
De Blasio announced the new ventilators at a press conference, hours after Cuomo and President Donald Trump publicly traded insults over one another's handling of the crisis.
Cuomo had complained on Tuesday about receiving only 400 ventilators from FEMA when he needs 30,000 and told the president: 'What am I meant to do with 400? You want a pat on the back for that?'
Trump, in a town hall later in the afternoon, tried to shirk the blame for the shortage, saying Cuomo had the chance to buy 15,000 ventilators in 2015 but didn't.
At around 4pm, De Blasio announced that 4,000 were now on the way.
'A short time ago I got the very good news that 4,000 ventilators from the federal government are on their way to New York State in the next 48 hours and half of them will come to New York City.
'That's great news but that's only the beginning of what we need. With the rate of increase of this disease, we need ventilators to be constantly supplied until we get to the point we're absolutely sure we have an ample supply.
Faced with an infection rate that is five times that of the rest of the country, New York is now so desperate for the ventilators that doctors have begun experimenting by having two patients share one at the same time.
Governor Andrew Cuomo said coronavirus was hitting his state 'like a bullet train' and that it could peak in just 14 days.
Speaking at a press conference at the Javits Center, which will become one of several field hospitals offering 1,000 beds to patients in Manhattan, Cuomo said the virus was moving faster than he or anyone else had anticipated it to.
'The increase in cases continues unabated. The rate of increase has gone up, it's doubling every three days. That is a dramatic increase in the rate of infection
'We were looking at a freight train - we're now looking at a bullet train. We haven't flattened the curve. The curve is actually increasing.
'The anticipated need now is 140,000 hospital beds and approximately 40,000 ICU beds. Those are troubling and astronomical numbers.'
In just one day, there were 4,790 new cases across the state and 2,599 cases in the city of New York.
Cuomo is testing more than anywhere else in the US. To date, the state has tested nearly 100,000 people.
He has long warned that the case count would rise but there is now a race against the virus to prepare the city and state's hospitals for the sudden onslaught of people who are going to need urgent care.
On Monday, the U.S. saw its biggest jump yet in the death toll from the virus, with more than 650 American deaths now attributed to COVID-19.
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