Mayor Bowser Issues New Order Requiring Hotspot Travelers to Quarantine 14 Days

Mayor Bowser Issues New Order Requiring Hotspot Travelers to Quarantine 14 Days

By Larry Janezich

June 24, 2020

Mayor Bowsers issued an order today, effective Monday July 27, requiring 14 day self-quarantine after travel to DC from high risk areas.  The order does not include travel to Maryland and Virginia.

A list of high risk areas will be published here https://coronavirus.dc.gov/newsroom on Monday, and updated every two weeks.

Essential travel was defined in the Mayor’s March 30, Stay-At-Home Order, as follows:

5. “Essential Travel” means:
6. Travel related to the provision of, or access to, Essential Activities, Essential Governmental Functions, Essential Businesses, or Minimum Basic Operations, including travel to and from work to operate Essential Businesses or maintain Essential Governmental Functions;
7. Travel to care for elderly, minors, dependents, persons with disabilities, or other vulnerable persons;
8. Travel required to visit a house of worship;
9. Travel to or from educational institutions for purposes of receiving materials for distance learning, for receiving meals, and any other related services;
10. Travel to return to a place of residence from outside Washington, DC;
11. Travel required by law enforcement or court order;
12. Travel required for non-residents to return to their place of residence outside Washington, DC; and
13. Travel within the Washington region to engage in allowable activities under that jurisdiction’s laws.

The Mayor said city officials are watching other activities where restrictions had been relaxed but which could be dialed back if metrics head in the wrong direction.  Those activities include personal services like salons and barbershops, indoor dining, the 50 person limit on gatherings, and elective hospital procedures.  She declined to say what metrics would trigger a dial back – officials “will look at all of them from day to day,” and added that it was possible that just one activity could see re-imposed restrictions.

The new order is effective through October 9 – the current extension of the health emergency – but it too could be dialed back if justified.

For those essential travelers exempt from the order – members of Congress, for example – Bowser said that they should only leave home while performing essential activities.