New Jersey officials added Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma to the states from which visitors need to partake in a voluntary 14-day quarantine.
The list of states is now at 19, with the most interesting being Delaware.
State officials gave the reasons for why a state is listed — 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 — but gave no guidance on what employees who may work in Delaware but live in New Jersey should do.
Gov. Phil Murphy, in a release, said the state needs to protect itself from areas where COVID-19 is growing rapidly.
“Several outbreaks across New Jersey are directly tied to travel from COVID-19 hotspots nationwide,” he said in a statement. “In order to responsibly continue down our road back to restart and recovery, we must remain vigilant in our collective effort to beat the virus and reduce the rate of transmission.
“I urge those arriving from one of these 19 states to self-quarantine and get a COVID-19 test to prevent additional flareups across the state and ensure the health and safety of their fellow New Jerseyans.”
The release said travelers and those residents who are returning from impacted states should self-quarantine at their home, hotel or other temporary lodging. Individuals should leave the place of self-quarantine only to seek medical care/treatment or to obtain food and other essential items.
That being said, travelers and residents returning from impacted states typically will not need to check in with public health officials, unless they are involved in contract tracing efforts or required to do so by their employer or any other federal, state or local law or order.
Here are the 19 states:
- Alabama;
- Arkansas;
- Arizona;
- California;
- Delaware;
- Florida;
- Georgia;
- Iowa;
- Idaho;
- Kansas;
- Louisiana;
- Oklahoma;
- Mississippi;
- North Carolina;
- Nevada;
- South Carolina;
- Tennessee;
- Texas;
- Utah.
The numbers
The state reported just 310 new positive test results — an astonishing low number at a time when other states are reporting as many as 10,000.
New Jersey now has 173,878 cases — but that’s now well behind Texas and Florida for fifth-most in the country. Both of those states have passed 200,000. Give Murphy credit for this.
Other numbers (as of 10 p.m. Monday):
- Hospitalizations: 903 (up from 861);
- In intensive care: 162 (down from 187);
- On ventilators: 142 (down from 152).
