Traveling to DC? Visitors from 27 states, including the Carolinas, must quarantine
Washington, D.C., has joined New York, New Jersey and Connecticut in requiring travelers from a slew of states where the coronavirus remains unchecked to self-quarantine when they arrive in the nation’s capital.
North and South Carolina — along with much of the Southeast — are on the list.
Anyone visiting or returning to D.C. after non-essential travel to states identified by the health department as “high risk” will be required to self-quarantine for at least 14 days upon their return, Mayor Muriel Bowser announced Friday. On Monday, the health department released a list of 27 states that fit the criteria.
Those arriving in D.C. after essential travel will not be required to self-quarantine but must monitor for any coronavirus symptoms for at least 14 days, according to the mayor’s office.
“We know unfortunately, that there are states that are seeing significant spikes in new cases,” Bowser said during a news conference Friday. “We know that there are places where people are not being as cautious or making the same sacrifices that we’re making here in D.C. And unfortunately when people travel in and out of D.C. from these places that can put our community’s health at risk.”
D.C. Health defines high risk as “states where the seven-day moving average of daily new COVID-19 cases is 10 or more per 100,000 persons,” according to Monday’s news release.
Monday’s list includes Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.
Bowser said the list will be re-evaluated and updated accordingly every two weeks, but Virginia and Maryland — which neighbor D.C. and are home to many residents who work in the district — will be exempt from the order.
The announcement mirrors similar orders from other states hoping to quell the spread of the virus from areas where the number of COVID-19 cases has steadily increased over the summer months.
In June, New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced travelers from at least nine states — including North and South Carolina — with a positive coronavirus test rate that’s higher than 10 per 100,000 people would be required to quarantine on arrival, McClatchy News previously reported.
New York later mandated travelers from those states also give officials their contact information upon arrival, according to McClatchy.
This story was originally published July 27, 2020 at 2:04 PM with the headline "Traveling to DC? Visitors from 27 states, including the Carolinas, must quarantine."
