TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy said Tuesday visitors from three more states must quarantine for two weeks under an advisory aimed at travelers from COVID-19 hotspots.
Residents from neighboring Delaware as well as Kansas and Oklahoma should self-quarantine for 14 days if visiting New Jersey, according to the governor.
The new states bring the total to 19.
The advisory covers states with a positive test rate above 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average, or states with a 10% or higher positivity rate over the same period.
The news comes a day after Murphy said the rate of transmission ticked up to about 1.0, meaning the average number of people infected by each infectious person.
“Several outbreaks across New Jersey are directly tied to travel from COVID-19 hotspots nationwide,” Murphy said in an emailed statement. “In order to responsibly continue down our road back to restart and recovery, we must remain vigilant in our collective effort to beat the virus.”
New Jersey is in the midst of reopening and has seen its transmission and positivity rates fall from peaks in April, though Murphy said Monday the uptick in the latest figures mean the economic restart is likely to slow down.
He already abandoned plans to allow dining indoors to resume.
The travel advisory cannot be constitutionally enforced, Murphy has said, though he’s urged people to use caution when considering a trip to the state.
Electronic billboards on New Jersey’s highways urge travelers to call 511 to determine their quarantine status.
Murphy and fellow Democratic governors of Connecticut and New York announced last month they would jointly institute the travel advisory aimed at preventing a COVID-19 flareup in their states.
As of Monday, there were 20 more deaths announced, increasing the statewide total to more than 13,300, plus 1,854 likely coronavirus-related deaths, Murphy said.
More than 200 positive cases were reported, bringing the total amount of cases to about 173,600.
For most people, the virus causes mild or moderate symptoms. Older adults and people with existing health problems are at higher risk of more severe illness or death.
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HURRY UP AND WAIT
New Jersey’s Motor Vehicle Commission branches reopened Tuesday to long lines and a slew of unsatisfied customers.
The offices have been closed since mid-March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Officials had urged people to wait a week or more before doing their business and to check whether they could conduct their transactions online. But that didn’t stop thousands from lining up, some in the wee hours of the morning, at locations around the state.
Large crowds outside offices from Toms River to Oakland and Wallington to Eatontown prompted police to send thousands of people home. Pictures posted on Twitter showed people standing in long lines in the hot sun.
In Newark, some customers said they’d lined up starting at 4 a.m. Others remained outside even after the gates to the office were closed around noon.
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