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This week, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey announced that that travelers coming from select states into the metro region will be subjected to a 14-day quarantine to help ensure there isn’t a new spike in COVID-19 cases.
According to Johns Hopkins University, Connecticut currently has among the lowest seven-day average infection rates in the country, after being a hotbed for the virus when the pandemic first came to the United States from China and Europe.
States with a daily positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate for COVID-19 tests over a 7-day rolling average are subject to the mandatory quarantine.
States currently with an infection rate that will require a 14-day quarantine:
- Alabama;
- Arkansas;
- Florida;
- North Carolina;
- South Carolina;
- Washington;
- Utah;
- Texas.
In response to the mandatory quarantine, Connecticut State Police made an announcement on social media proclaiming that out-of-state drivers will not be stopped by troopers unless violating vehicle and traffic laws.
“No, we are not stopping out of state motorists,” they said. “The governor has encouraged those traveling into the state of Connecticut from states with high COVID-19 infection rates to self-quarantine for 14 days.
“The state of Connecticut roadways are open to all those traveling through to surrounding states. Please obey all traffic laws.”
Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont said that the mandatory quarantine is a travel advisory, and it will be up to individuals to abide by the advisory.
In the tri-state region, hotels have been instructed to communicate the 14-day quarantine to guests who have traveled from one of the impacted states.
“Out-of-state visitors from impacted states are encouraged to postpone travel. If not possible to delay travel, individuals are encouraged to self-quarantine in the home they are returning to in Connecticut,” officials said. “If not possible to self-quarantine from other household members, those other household members who did not travel from an impacted state are not required to self-quarantine.”
Lamont said that Connecticut residents have largely followed the protocols put forth by the state, which has helped the metro area lead the way nationally in combating the virus.
“Right now (the economy) is about 95 percent open, and people have more or less been following the protocols, but we know we’re not an island and our region is not an island,” he said. “That’s why we’re doing what we have to do to protect ourselves from incoming viruses from infected areas.”
Statewide, according to the latest numbers from the Department of Health, there have been a total of 45,994 reported positive COVID-19 cases, 44,018 confirmed and 1,976 probable.
There are currently 122 COVID-19 patients still hospitalized with the virus, and there have been 4,298 COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic hit the states more than three months ago.
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