One Third Of States At ‘Tipping Point’ Or ‘Accelerated Spread’ For COVID-19

With many Americans traveling for the July 4th holiday weekend, a growing number of states are seeing significant and growing rates of infection for COVID-19.

It is expected that today Delaware will be officially added to the travel advisory list for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, becoming the first Mid-Atlantic state to do so. Visitors from restricted states must quarantine for 14 days upon entering the tri-state region.

Delaware now meets the criteria laid out in New York State Andrew Cuomo’s June 24 executive order, which applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or a state with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average. The governors of New Jersey and Connecticut have issued similar mandates.

Delaware’s infection rate is now 11.3. Two of Delaware’s three counties have “accelerated spread” of COVID-19, according to the Harvard Global Health Institute (HGHI) risk-assessment map.

MORE FROM FORBESDon’t Travel Before Checking Harvard’s COVID-19 Hot Spot MapBy Suzanne Rowan Kelleher

As new cases of coronavirus increase across the country, the tri-state’s list of restricted states grows. Less than a week ago, on June 30, eight new states met the metrics for the tri-state COVID-19 travel advisory.

Today there are 17 states in total that meet the threshold of a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average.

Four states — Arizona, Florida, South Carolina and Louisiana — are in the red zone with 25 or more positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people. That means a state is “at a tipping point,” according to HGHI, and people should be under stay-at-home orders.

Thirteen states are designated orange by HGHI, which means there is “accelerated spread” of COVID-19. These states include Georgia, Nevada, Texas, Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Tennessee, Utah, California, North Carolina, Idaho, Iowa and Delaware.

MORE FROM FORBESTravel Watch: COVID-19 Is Spreading Along Interstate Highways, Per New ResearchBy Suzanne Rowan Kelleher

Delaware’s entry into the list of high-risk states is further evidence that COVID-19 is spreading along US interstates, as asserted by Policylab at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). In a new report, researchers point to a rise in cases along the I-95 corridor, in cities such as Wilmington, Delaware, and Baltimore.

“Travel is certainly a huge driving factor,” the researchers wrote in a blog post. “We see spread along I-80 between central Illinois and Iowa, as well as along the I-90 corridor across upstate New York.” 

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