Virus fears
3 states will require Arizona travelers to quarantine
PHOENIX – Planning a trip to the Big Apple?
Be prepared to spend two weeks locked away somewhere as a new directive from the governors of three Northeast states proves that sometimes what goes around comes around.
The chief executives of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced Wednesday they would require a 14-day quarantine for visitors arriving from states which have “significant community spread.’’ The definition they chose includes Arizona. And that, according to New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, includes Arizona and eight other states
The order was to take effect at 12:01 a.m. Thursday.
If the verbiage used by Cuomo sounds familiar, it should.
In April, Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey ordered a similar two-week quarantine for visitors to Arizona from areas with what he described as “substantial community spread.’’
Ducey said at the time that his powers under state emergency laws allow him to tell new arrivals that they must go directly to their place of isolation or selfquarantine “and only leave that location for essential services.’’ And he said the move was aimed at the tristate area of Connecticut, New Jersey and New York because it has become a COVID-19 hotspot.
That Arizona order has since expired as infection rates in those states have gone down.
But just the reverse is happening here.
Cuomo, in a joint announcement with his counterparts, said this isn’t meant to single out any particular state. He said the governors have come up with what they consider an infection rate that is unacceptable.
“Any state that goes over that infection rate, that state will be subject to the quarantine,’’ Cuomo explained.
That rate, he explained, is based on one of two standards: 10 positive cases for every 100,000 residents on a seven-day rolling average, or 10% of the total population testing positive.
New figures Wednesday from the Arizona Department of Health Services put the total percent of positive tests at 10.7%. And looking just at the past full week, the figure is 19%.
But part-week data for the current week shows a positive rate of 21%. And the Center for Bioscience at Arizona State University, doing its own reports, on Wednesday pegged the most recent seven-day average at 22.1%, its highest point ever.
Overall, the health department reported another 1,795 cases on Wednesday, bringing the state’s tally to just slightly less than 60,000. There also were 79 deaths reported with the total now at 1,463.
The state also reported a new record of 2,270 individuals suffering from COVID-19 in hospital beds. ICU bed usage was 581, down from the prior day’s record of 614.
Overall, the health department said that 86% of hospital beds and 88% of ICU beds were in use by all types of patients.
The governor had said that the state would reimpose limits on elective surgeries at any facility where the average exceeded 80%.
On Wednesday, state Health Director Cara Christ said her staff is in contact with hospitals to ensure they understand their obligations to keep beds available should there be a surge in COVID-19 cases. To date, however, Christ said she has issued no such orders.
Other states subject to the quarantine, according to Cuomo, include Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah and Texas.