Gov. Murphy Says Out-Of-State Travelers Must Quarantine 14 Days
I know people don't love it but it does make sense being that we are neighbors with one of COVD-19's biggest epicenters in the USA.
Well now New Jersey, New York and Connecticut are following suit....but with their state borders.
According to Governor Phil Murphy, Governor Andrew Cuomo and Governor Ned Lamont, anyone who wants to travel to the Garden State, New York or Connecticut from another state in the USA where COVID-10 cases are spiking MUST quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival.
“We’ve been clobbered by this virus. No region in this country has paid a bigger price,” said Murphy during a joint appearance by the governors. “This is a smart thing to do he said. We have taken our people, these three states, to hell and back.”
The USA states that are already included in this list are: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington.
HOWEVER, if you are coming to NJ from any other state, your transmission rate is still much higher than the Garden State's so prepare to self-quarantine.
"No state in America has a spot positivity rate that I’m aware of under 2% so by definition, no matter where you’re coming from, you’re probably coming from a state that’s got a higher hit rate right now with the virus than we have," said Murphy. "So strong request, as strongly as we can, recommendation, please get tested, and quarantine accordingly, depending on what that test result looks like.”
This advisory officially goes into affect on Wednesday, June 24th at midnight.
“We went from the highest viral transmission rate to some of the lowest rates in the country,” Cuomo said. “So I applaud my colleagues for doing an extraordinary job. We now have to ensure that the rate continues to drop. What happens in New York, happens in New Jersey and happens in Connecticut.”
On Tuesday, June 23rd alone, an additional 34,7000 new cases of the virus were reported so I think this new travel advisory is much needed.
Like Governor Phil Murphy said, we have been to hell and back and one stupid mistake could set us back to square one.
We are currently in Stage 2 of reopening and Murphy has said that Stage 3 can be reached within the next few weeks as long as case numbers continue to decrease.
Now if I may add something really quick: I don't think anyone who lives anywhere other than New Jersey, New York or California will ever understand what it was like living here during the pandemic and just how bad it got.
If you suspect out-of-state travelers are not following the protocol explained above, contact your local authorities.
We will get through this. Just be smart and use common sense.