What you should know
- Tristate governments implemented joint mandatory quarantine last month for travelers from viral hotspot states; travelers from certain states must isolate themselves for 14 days
- 34 states plus Washington, DC and Puerto Rico are on the restricted list; the national death toll surpassed 156,000 this week, according to estimates by NBC News
- Decreased compliance at home exacerbates the national threat; NJ saw a small increase in new COVID-19 cases. The state’s broadcast rate increased from 0.87 a month ago to 1.48 on Monday
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NEW YORK – Some states on the NY, NJ, and CT quarantine list have peaked in coronavirus infections but few of them have seen declines in new cases. The tri-state coalition will decide on Tuesday if it is enough for them to be removed from the quarantine list.
However, other states may find themselves meeting the criteria to be added to this list.
California, Florida, and Texas have overtaken New York in most confirmed COVID-19 cases in the US and are among the 34 states (plus Washington, DC, and Puerto Rico) currently on the travel restricted list. . Governor Andrew Cuomo says the state is seeing some of its lowest infection and hospitalization numbers to date, but “it’s only a matter of time” before the virus resurfaces in the region.
New Jersey added Rhode Island to the list of restrictions on Tuesday and dropped Delaware and Washington, DC It is the first time since the tri-state governors established the quarantine system that a New England state has been added to the list.
“The national situation is getting worse, it is not improving. It is an indisputable fact,” said the governor.
Cuomo went on to emphasize that there must be a national strategy to handle the pandemic, adding that Washington must pass a fair bill that includes funding for state and local governments or there will be a real economic recession. Some of the nation’s leading experts have suggested a national reset, a need to re-close a number of states experiencing COVID surges. Nearly two dozen states, including New York and New Jersey, have delayed or reversed reopening.
“The national response to COVID was a historic and colossal mistake by the federal government. Six months and this virus is still out of control across the country. Six months wasted,” Cuomo said Monday. “Shame on you all.”
Out-of-state travel from viral hotspots has already contributed to new groups in New York and New Jersey. That threat is in addition to that of local non-compliance with distancing guidelines. New York City’s infection rate hasn’t risen from the latter yet, and Cuomo is cracking down on bars and restaurants spawning orders.
Yet it has certainly had an impact in New Jersey, which is seeing its highest transmission rates in six weeks as people continue to attend house parties and flaunt the COVID precautions that fueled the spread in the first place.
“We have returned to where we were a month ago,” said the president. “We cannot go back.”
Gov. Phil Murphy had put New Jersey “on notice” late last week and took action Monday, reducing the capacity for indoor gatherings from 100 to 25 people. The restrictions remain in effect “until further notice.” Murphy wants to see the transmission rate drop to a lower level on a seven-day moving average.
A month ago, New Jersey’s transmission rate was 0.87. On Monday, it was 1.48, which means that one infected person is infecting almost one and a half people. The New York governor was asked last week if he would consider putting New Jersey on the quarantine list, given its recent increase.
Cuomo said he didn’t see how it could work, and vowed to help New Jersey overcome this hurdle on the road to recovery.
New York and New Jersey have lost more people to the virus than any other state in the nation, but the national death toll is rising rapidly amid the growing crisis. Florida continues to break its single-day death records. California has also reported new daily mortality highs in recent weeks.
Nationally, the death toll in the US has surpassed 156,000 this week, according to estimates by NBC News. The number of hot spots on the shortlist has increased each week since Cuomo, Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont jointly announced the travel restriction in late June in a bid to protect the progress of three states.
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