Heather Curtis
WMAL.com
WASHINGTON (WMAL) – Starting Monday people who come to D.C. from COVID-19 hotspots for nonessential business will need to self-quarantine for 14 days to make sure they don’t get people in the city sick.
LIVE: Coronavirus (COVID-19) situational update July 24. https://t.co/TJJk4z6EtO
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) July 24, 2020
“Unfortunately when people travel in and out of D.C. from these places, that can put our community’s health at risk,” D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said at a press conference Friday where she announced the new order.
This doesn’t apply to people coming to the city from Maryland or Virginia, or Washingtonians traveling to those states from the District. It does apply to Washingtonians who travel to hotspots for nonessential businesses, and college kids from out of town returning for the fall semester.
People who travel to the city from hotspots for essential business – including members of Congress – will be allowed to go out to do that work but not for fun. Bowser said essential businesses includes work, caring for elderly family members or your children, and visiting a house of worship.
Bowser urged Washingtonians considering going to hotspots for vacations or other nonessential reasons to ask themselves whether they need to make the trip.
“And if I am going to make this trip, I need to recognize that when I come back, I can’t have my decision to make a nonessential trip effect my neighbors or my community,” Bowser added.
Bowser’s new order defines high risk-areas are places where the seven-day average of new daily COVID-19 cases are 10 or more per 100,000 people. She didn’t get any specific locations during Friday’s press conference, but said that on Monday the D.C. Department of Health will put out a list of places that meet those qualifications. The list will be updated every two weeks, according to Bowser.
For now, the order will remain in place through Oct. 9 when the public health emergency in the city ends, but Bowser said that date could change based on new data.
For more on the mayor’s order, click here.
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