On 21 July 2020, officials in the northeastern U.S. states of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut expanded an existing 14-day self-quarantine requirement to include individuals traveling from the following 10 states: Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia and Washington. Minnesota was removed from the list of designated states, whereas Alaska and Delaware — which were previously removed — have been re-added to the list, which currently contains a total of 31 states. States that record “a seven-day rolling average, of positive [COVID-19] tests in excess of 10%, or number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents” will be added to the list. Conversely, states that no longer meet the criteria will be removed from the list.
The New York state government maintains the list of 31 designated states and provides additional guidance regarding the COVID-19 Travel Advisory, which is available here.
Analyst Comment: Health officials in the U.S. recorded at least 60,000 new COVID-19 cases for a seventh consecutive day, and on 21 July more than 65,000 new cases were registered and the death toll exceeded more than 1,000. COVID-19 case numbers have risen sharply over recent weeks in populous western and southern states, including California, Florida and Texas. More than 3.9 million cases, with at least 142,080 fatalities, have been reported in the country, according to the latest statistics. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) maintains that the real number of coronavirus infections in the country is significantly higher — between 2 to 13 times higher — than the registered number of cases. U.S. President Donald Trump on 21 July warned that the pandemic will likely worsen and urged residents to employ sanitary measures, wear face coverings and practice social distancing.
