DC Health Updates High-Risk State List; Criteria To Enter Phase 3

WASHINGTON, DC — D.C. Department of Health on Monday updated its list of states deemed to be at high risk for transmitting the new coronavirus. People traveling from these 30 states to D.C. will be required to self-quarantine for 14 days when they arrive.

"Residents of the District of Columbia should now be aware that if they are making travel plans ... states are subject to being added to or removed from the list every two weeks, and people should take that under advisement when making their travel plans," said Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of D.C. Health, during a Monday morning press briefing.

Travel to and from Maryland and Virginia is exempt from Mayor Muriel Bowser's mandatory self-quarantine order. Delaware, Hawaii, and South Dakota were added to the latest list of high-risk states and Montana and New Mexico were removed. The list will be updated on Sept. 7.

Here are the 30 high-risk states that require 14 days of self-quarantine:

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Oklahoma
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Wisconsin

When asked about what health officials would need to see in order to recommend the District enter Phase 3 of its phased reopening, Nesbitt repeated the same criteria D.C. Health referenced when the city entered Phase 2 at the end of June.

"We began to manage those expectations very clearly back at the end of June when we entered into Phase 2," she said. "Phase 2 would be a much longer haul than Phase 1. In particularly because we're not only looking for declines in the number of cases that we see on a daily basis but because we're looking at the nature of those cases and their relationship to one another. We would much rather begin to see clusters of cases as opposed to individual cases not being connected to one another in order to indicate that it would be OK to move into Phase 3."

Nesbitt pointed out that some activities, such as in-person schooling, are allowed in Phase 2 but are not currently approved. Health officials could recommend those activities be approved and still not recommend the District move into Phase 3.

"We had anticipated being able to have some additional forms of entertainment in Phase 2 through the waiver process," Nesbitt said. "We had to delay that. We anticipated having swimming, our pools open in Phase 2. We made decisions to delay that. There's still a host of activities that we delayed in Phase 2 because our indicators were not exactly where we wanted them to be."

In Phase 3, the District could allow mass gatherings at much higher levels, a different level of telework, and an increased capacity for some of the indoor activities already allowed in Phase 2.

"There's a different environment from a public health perspective that would have to be in place in terms of the cases being connected to each other that we would need to be in Phase 3," Nesbitt said. "And it doesn't necessarily mean that we would have to completely get there before we turn on some additional activity in Phase 2."

D.C. Health confirmed 49 additional positive cases of COVID-19, the virus associated with the new coronavirus, on Monday. That's less than the 56 new cases reported on Sunday. This brings the District's total number of positive cases to 13,639.

D.C. Health reported no new deaths due to COVID-19 on Monday. The total number of deaths in the District due to COVID-19 stands at 604.

According to D.C. Health, 269,401 coronavirus tests have been administered in the District, 169,346 residents have been tested, and 10,835 have been cleared from isolation.

The District currently has 87 intensive care unit beds available out of 345 total intensive care unit beds. There are currently 173 in-use ventilators out of a total of 440 available ventilators. Also, there are 26 COVID-19-positive ICU patients.

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The positivity rate as of Monday among District residents is 2.6 percent. This is one of the metrics health officials monitor to determine if the city is ready to move into the next phase of its phased reopening.

Globally, more than 23.4 million people have been infected by COVID-19, and over 809,000 people have died, Johns Hopkins University reported Monday morning. In the United States, more than 5.7 million people have been infected and over 176,000 people have died from COVID-19.

COVID-19 Cases By Age And Gender

Total of Positive COVID-19 Cases By Ward

Total COVID-19 Deaths By Ward

Total of Positive COVID-19 Cases By Race

Total of Positive COVID-19 Deaths By Race

District residents should take the following actions to help prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
• Wash hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds. An alcohol-based hand sanitizer can be used if soap and water are not available.
• Avoid touching eyes, nose and mouth with unwashed hands.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
• Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.

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