NJ removes California, 5 additional states from COVID-19 travel advisory

NJBIZ - 9/21/2020

New Jersey on Tuesday took six states including California, which was removed for the first time since June off a list from which travelers into the tri-state area should self-quarantine for 14 days.
That brings the advisory's total to 30 states, down from 35 last week, where the pandemic is raging enough that Connecticut, New Jersey and New York public health officials worry a traveler could spark a rebound in their territories.
The self-quarantine recommendation fromthe three states, among the hardest hit by the pandemic in March and April, applies to any state with a positive test rate of 10 per 100,000 residents or a positivity rate higher than 10 percent, both over a seven-day rolling average.
Hawaii, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, and Ohio were taken off the list, but Delaware, which borders New Jersey to the south, will stay on the list after being added a third time. Puerto Rico was put back on, after only having been taken off last week.
“It is the responsibility of New Jerseyans and visitors to our state to protect others from the spread of COVID-19,” Murphy said in a Tuesday afternoon statement. “It remains critically important for anyone arriving to New Jersey from these 30 states and territories to get tested for COVID-19 and self-quarantine for 14 days.”
The positivity rate among COVID-19 tests has oscillated between 1.5 and 2 percent, both acceptable numbers according to the governor. They were, from Murphy’s point of view, enough to justify scaling back restrictions on indoor dining, theaters and gyms.
Meanwhile, the rate of transmission, or how quickly the virus spreads, has hovered just above 1 for the past several weeks, meaning that for every person who gets COVID-19, they spread it to at least one other individual.
Gyms were allowed to operate at reduced capacity at the start of the month, and with a face covering requirement, as well as intense sanitization and other policies for extensive indoor ventilation, so that the virus would be purged from the facility.
Indoor dining, indoor movie theaters and other performance venues followed suit just before Labor Day weekend, also with face covering and limited capacity protocols.
“We would not have taken that step if we did not feel the risk was manageable,” Murphy said at a Monday press conference in Trenton. “I would guess it is too early to conclude one way or the other on” whether that leads to a surge in new cases.
“It is too early to say anything related to indoor dining as far as New Jersey goes,” added Dr. Ed Lifshitz, the state’s communicable disease service medical director. “We have not yet heard of anything but yes, it would be early to say and certainly something we keep an eye on.”