West Coast States Publish Travel Advisory Before Thanksgiving Week

California, Oregon and Washington issued a joint travel advisory on Friday discouraging non-essential travel and urging visitors and residents returning from other states to quarantine for 14 days.

Essential travel under the advice includes “work and study, support for critical infrastructure, economic services and supply chains, health, immediate medical care and safety and security,” according to a statement. Friday press release.

While other states such as Connecticut have enforced on-arrival quarantine for residents of high-risk states, California notice is not a requirement. New York recently revised its quarantine order to exempt those in contiguous states and those who test negative at least 72 hours before arrival.

The California advisory applies to all out-of-state travel and visitors, including those to Oregon and Washington.

The context: The advisory comes as Covid-19 cases increase across California and the country. California has just reached 1 million cases and its positivity rate has climbed to 4.2% in recent weeks – a level not seen since early September, according to Health and Human Services Secretary of State Mark Ghaly .

The Bay Area began considering a 14-day quarantine last week, Ghaly said in his Nov. 4 briefing. In the days that followed, nine counties regressed to more restrictive reopening levels, including two – Sacramento and San Diego – which entered the more restrictive purple level. More than half of California residents now live in purple level areas.

Los Angeles County, which remains in the purple level, on Thursday recommended residents not to travel out of state for the holidays and quarantine them for 14 days upon their return if they do.

And after: Ghaly said at a press briefing Monday that if the trends continued over the next week, more than half of California’s 58 counties would be upgraded to a stricter level.