WASHINGTON, March 28 (Xinhua) -- As the death toll of COVID-19 in the United States doubled within a week to top 2,000 on Saturday, U.S. authorities have taken measures to curb the spread of the pandemic.
As of Saturday evening, more than 124,000 people across the country have tested positive for the virus, with at leat 2,100 deaths, according to the latest data from Johns Hopkins University's Center for Systems Science and Engineering (CSSE).
New York state's cases have topped 53,000, followed by states of New Jersey and California, with 11,124 and 5,564 cases respectively, according to the update.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said Saturday that the state's death toll from COVID-19 had risen to 728.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Saturday he asked the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to issue travel advisory for the states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Earlier in the day, Trump said he was considering a 14-day quarantine for New York, "probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut," adding the measure might not have to be taken, but "there's a possibility."
Cuomo said in an interview with CNN on Saturday that he did not believe a possible New York quarantine was legal and that it would be a "federal declaration of war."
"It would be chaos and mayhem," said Cuomo, who has required New York residents to stay at home as much as possible.
In a pair of tweets on Saturday night, Trump said "a quarantine will not be necessary."
Trump said that he has asked the CDC to issue "a strong Travel Advisory, to be administered by the Governors, in consultation with the Federal Government."
The CDC later posted the travel advisory for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut on its website, urging residents of the three states "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," it said. "These employees of critical infrastructure, as defined by the Department of Homeland Security, have a special responsibility to maintain normal work schedule."
The governors of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will have full discretion to implement the advisory, it added.
"This is now a national epidemic with multiple epicenters," tweeted Scott Gottlieb, a resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute and former commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.
"April will be hard month but we'll get through it. This will end. We need to stick with current strategies. We can look toward May as month when we carefully transition to new posture. For now focus must be on supporting healthcare systems, preserving life, ending epidemic spread," Gottlieb said.
Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker announced on Friday that all travelers entering the state will be instructed to self-quarantine for 14 days, while Florida Governor Ron DeSantis earlier issued an order mandating a two-week self-isolation for travelers from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
The pandemic has swept more than 200 countries and regions. As of Saturday eventing, there were more than 664,000 confirmed cases globally, with 30,800 deaths, an interactive map maintained by the CSSE showed.
