Trump says he’s considering short-term quarantine of New York, New Jersey, parts of Connecticut

President Donald Trump speaks about the coronavirus in the James Brady Press Briefing Room, Friday, March 27, 2020, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon) (Alex Brandon, Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

CNN – President Donald Trump said Saturday that he's considering a short-term quarantine of New York state, New Jersey, and parts of Connecticut, as cases of coronavirus continue to rise.

"We're thinking about certain things. Some people would like to see New York quarantined because it's a hotspot. ... We might not have to do it, but there's a possibility that sometime today we'll do a quarantine, short-term, two weeks on New York. Probably New Jersey, certain parts of Connecticut," he told reporters as he departed the White House.

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"I'd rather not do it, but we may need it," the President said.

Trump said that the possible quarantine would be "enforceable" and "restrict travel" from those parts of the tri-state area.

"Restrict travel, because they're having problems down in Florida, a lot of New Yorkers going down. We don't want that," he said.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said that he spoke with Trump on Saturday morning, but that the two had not discussed a quarantine for the state.

"I don't even know what that means. I don't know how that could be legally enforceable," the Democratic governor said during in a news conference in Albany. "And from a medical point view, I don't know what you would be accomplishing."

"But I can tell you, I don't even like the sound of it," he added.

As of Saturday morning, New York had 519 reported deaths due to coronavirus and 4,635 reported cases — making it the state with the most reported cases in the US, according to CNN Health's tally.