By Dominic Taylor-
An imposition o a 14 day quarantine has been imposed on travellers going to three states:New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have asked people travelling from states where virus cases are rising to go into self-isolation for 14 days.
It follows reports of record numbers of cases in some Southern and Western States.The University of Washington predicts 180,000 US deaths by October – or 146,000 if 95% of Americans wear masks.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York, Gov. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Gov. Ned Lamont of Connecticut said the aim of the quarantine was to shield their states’ recovery gains from outbreaks elsewhere.
America’s infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci added his voice to the developments, telling lawmakers there was “a disturbing surge of infection” and “increased community spread” in many southern and western states.
Earlier today, Dr Fauci said the plan was conduct more and more testing, not reduce them. Dr.Fauci has always cautioned against easing the lockdown in the U.S too soon, for fear of the kind of surges of infections said to be ravaging a number of states/
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The affected states includes Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Washington and Utah, the governor of New York state Andrew Cuomo told reporters.
Fines of $1,000 (£800) rising to $5,000 for repeated violations will be imposed, Mr Cuomo said. He added that US states would be added or taken off the quarantine list depending on the number of new cases per 100,00 people or the rate of positive tests.
“This is a smart thing to do,” New Jersey’s Governor Phil Murphy said.
“We have taken our people, the three of us from these three states, through hell and back, and the last thing we need to do right now is subject our folks to another round.”
New Jersey reported 7,149 new confirmed cases, taking the state’s total to 190,222 cases, Governor Gavin Newsom confirmed that the state had carried out more than a million tests over the past two weeks, with about 5% coming back positive. Mr Newsom has made wearing a face mask mandatory in public.
Florida also reported a daily record of 5,508 new infections. It brings Florida’s total number of confirmed infections to 109,014, with 3,281 deaths. In the absence of a state-wide mask requirement, several cities and towns have issued their own orders mandating masks in public.
Arizona on Wednesday reported 1,795 new infections, down from the record 3,600 new infection
“It’s only for the simple reason that we worked very hard to get the viral transmission rate down,” Cuomo said during a New York City press conference at which he was joined virtually by Lamont and Murphy. “We don’t want to see it go up, because a lot of people come into this region and they could literally bring the infection with them. It wouldn’t be malicious or malevolent, but it would still be real.”
“We welcome everyone to New Jersey, but we simply ask you to join us in our shared sacrifice to keep ourselves moving in the right direction,” Murphy said later during his daily coronavirus briefing in Trenton. “I think this is common sense.”
The restrictions covering the thee states go into effect from 12 a.m,and will apply to states with infection rates that exceed 10 people per 100,000 on a seven-day rolling average, or if 10 percent of the total population tests positive on a seven-day rolling average. On Wednesday that included Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah and Texas, Cuomo said. Most recent census estimates for the nine states add up to about 92 million.
Florida’s governor, DeSantis said on Monday that tactics used to slow the spread of the coronavirus are falling short in his state. He acknowledged that newly opened bars and restaurants could be contributing to community spread.
Desantis yesterday warned establishments to stop any “dance party USA” crowds or risk losing their liquor licenses. Several Florida counties have adopted mandatory face mask requirements for people in public buildings.
This Executive Order does not apply to individuals involved in commercial activity and students travelling for the purpose of academic work, internships, sports training and any other activity or program approved by the educational institution.
Responsible
All persons isolating or quarantining will be responsible for all costs associated with their isolation or quarantine. This includes transportation, lodging, food, medical care and any other expenses to sustain the individual during their period of isolation or quarantine.
Roadside checkpoints are set up on interstates to check for potential COVID-19 cases coming into Florida from areas with substantial community spread of the virus. The checkpoints do not apply to commercial drivers or health workers
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