Washington, Mar 28 (PTI) US President Donald Trump on Saturday said that he is considering an enforceable quarantine "maybe for a short period of time" in the New York City Metro as the number of the novel coronavirus cases spiked in the area.

The New York City Metro Area comprises of New York City, New Jersey and Connecticut.

More than 52,00 people have been infected with coronavirus in New York City alone and the number of such cases in neighbouring New Jersey has suddenly surged to nearly 9,000.

Over 700 people have died in New York and the fatalities in New Jersey have crossed 100.

“We're looking at it and will be making a decision. A lot of the states that are infected - they've asked me if I'd look at it so we're going to look at it. Maybe for a short period of time,” Trump told reporters when asked about the possibility of an enforceable quarantine in the New York City metropolitan area.

“It would be for a short time” for parts of New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, he said.

On closing subway, he said, “no, we wouldn't do that.”

“We're not going to need that,” he said when asked about using National Guard.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)