New Jersey on Tuesday added two new states and one U.S. territory to its coronavirus quarantine travel advisory, while five other states previously considered COVID-19 hotspots were dropped from the list.
The quarantine list now stands at 31 states, along with two territories. Hawaii, South Dakota, and the Virgin Islands were added Tuesday, while Alaska, Ohio, New Mexico, Rhode Island, and Washington were removed.
The update marked the second straight week the list has shrunk in overall size since the travel advisory was announced in June. But it’s the seventh straight week at least one state was added.
People traveling from those locations — including residents returning home — are being asked to voluntarily self-quarantine for 14 days and to seek a coronavirus test after arriving.
The quarantine applies to any state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average. People traveling for business are exempt.
“To protect the steady progress we’ve made on our road back, we need everyone who has traveled to one of these impacted states or territories to practice self-responsibility,” Gov. Phil Murphy said in a statement Tuesday. “I strongly encourage all individuals arriving from a hotspot to proactively get a COVID-19 test and self-quarantine to reduce transmission across our state.”
New Jersey, Connecticut, and New York jointly announced the quarantine plan June 24 to help protect their states from other areas with surging cases as numerous states began seeing outbreaks this summer.
The list had grown six of the last seven weeks, getting as large as 34 states, in addition to Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C., on July 28. It dropped to 34 states plus Puerto Rico last week.
The travel advisory now includes:
- Alabama
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maryland
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Oklahoma
- Puerto Rico
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- Virgin Islands
- Wisconsin
New York health officials calculate which states should be included.
Gov. Phil Murphy has said New Jersey won’t issue fines to those who don’t follow the quarantine, though he has said the state health commissioner could “go after” violators.
People flying into New Jersey are asked to fill out an electronic survey with information about their hometown, where they traveled from, and their destination. The information is then sent to county health departments, who will call the traveler to request them to self-quarantine and explain where they can be tested for COVID-19.
Travelers can access the survey by texting “NJ Travel” to 898211, visiting covid19.nj.gov/njtravel, or scanning a QR code on posters at airports.
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Once a coronavirus hotspot, New Jersey continues to see its outbreak diminish. On Tuesday, state officials announced 14 more deaths attributed to COVID-19 and 498 more positive tests, while the state’s rate of transmission fell to 0.94, below the critical mark of 1 that shows the virus is shrinking.
New Jersey’s new cases and deaths are down significantly since peaking in April, when state officials were announcing hundreds of new deaths and thousands of new cases a day.
The Garden State has now reported 15,878 confirmed and probable deaths related to the virus, with 185,031 known cases, in the little more than five months since the first positive test here was announced March 4.
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Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com.