States Join to Ban Crowds Amid ‘Lack of Federal Direction’

(Bloomberg) -- States are beginning to act together to coordinate suppression of gatherings and commerce in an effort to reduce spread of the novel coronavirus, in a response to increasing concerns that federal decisions have lagged the virus’s rate of contagion.

Governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced simultaneously a ban on crowds of more than 50, and ordered closure of bars, movie theaters, restaurants and gyms as of 8 p.m. Monday. After then, and in the days ahead, restaurants may accept only take-out and delivery orders.

Supermarkets, pharmacies, gas stations will remain open, said Governor Phil Murphy of New Jersey. The governors are also discouraging the public from nonessential travel from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.

“Everyone needs to stay in and be safe,” said Murphy, who spelled out the new rules to reporters on a conference call with governors Andrew Cuomo of New York and Ned Lamont of Connecticut.

The concerted action echoed a recommendation late Sunday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It is among the most aggressive actions nationwide to protect citizens from Covid-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus. Cuomo said concerted action was necessary to avoid varying regulations from state to state.

In New York City, some establishments had already shut their doors Monday afternoon. At Michael’s on Manhattan’s West 55th Street, wine glasses, plates and silverware sat on tables, with chairs going empty. The lights were off, the doors were locked, without even a sign warning away would-be diners.

At P.J. Clarke’s, during what would normally be a packed lunch hour, Drew Wanat, 33, wiped down the empty bar. Business began declining two weeks ago and had screeched to a halt by Monday, he said. “It’s kind of surreal,” said Wanat. Asked what it means for him, Wanat smiled and said it means he’ll have a lot of free time.

Cutting Edge

The Trump administration downplayed the risk of the coronavirus for weeks, with some officials saying it had been contained and the president himself making statements that conflicted with those dispensed by his own experts or were incorrect.

The New York Times reported Monday that President Donald Trump told a group of governors Monday morning that they shouldn’t wait for the federal government to provide respirators for patients.

“Respirators, ventilators, all of the equipment — try getting it yourselves,” Mr. Trump told the governors, according to the newspaper, which said it obtained a recording of the call. “We will be backing you, but try getting it yourselves. Point of sales, much better, much more direct if you can get it yourself.”

With the federal response muddled and sluggish, mayors and governors have been on the cutting edge of virus response, but a lack of uniform rules has created a patchwork system across the country. The Tristate governors were acting “amid a lack of federal direction and nationwide standards,” they said in a jointly released statement.

“If the federal government doesn’t step up quickly, states are going to be forced to do stuff on their own,” Cuomo said.

And they are, but the results aren’t uniform. On Sunday, Nevada Governor Steve Sisolak ordered schools and state offices closed statewide, but he offered no clear guidance on casinos, saying he would “strongly support” operators that did shut their doors. MGM Resorts International and Wynn Resorts Ltd.’s, two of the largest players on the Las Vegas Strip, said they would close their casinos. Caesars Entertainment Corp. and Las Vegas Sands Corp. are keeping theirs open.

California Governor Gavin Newsom called for bars and wineries to close and for restaurants to cut capacity by half, while advising the state’s 5.3 million citizens above 65 to isolate themselves in their homes. The governors of Ohio and Illinois closed bars and restaurants. On Monday, Indiana Governor Eric J. Holcomb did the same, also ordering schools to close and hospitals to cancel or postpone elective surgery.

In the Northeast, the regional cooperation announced Monday may extend into Pennsylvania and other nearby states, into the Midwest, along the Mid-Atlantic and into New England, the governors said.

The New York governor repeated past requests that the federal government release stockpiles of ventilators and protective supplies such as masks and gloves, and called upon Trump to order manufacturers to boost production of them 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The New York governor called upon the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to help build hospital capacity, and asked local governments to identify public facilities that could be converted into makeshift medical units to handle an anticipated demand that overwhelms the state’s current supply of hospital beds. New York City requires at least 5,000 beds, he said; Long Island’s Nassau and Suffolk counties, each 1,000; and Westchester, where a cluster has hit New Rochelle, 2,000.

“I don’t believe we’re going to be able to flatten the curve enough to meet the capacity of the health-care system,” he said.

Efforts to reach administration spokespeople weren’t immediately successful. Trump tweeted that his call with the governors had been very good, but “Cuomo of New York has to ‘do more.’”

--With assistance from Riley Griffin and Angelica LaVito.

To contact the reporters on this story: Henry Goldman in New York at hgoldman@bloomberg.net;Keshia Clukey in Arlington at kclukey@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Stephen Merelman at smerelman@bloomberg.net, Timothy Annett

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