Acknowledging that New Jersey is “a hub of international travel,” says Gov. Phil Murphy said Monday he was worried about a new variant of the coronavirus was first discovered in South Africa and that he spoke to the White House later that day about possible travel bans.
The governor’s comments follow the new variant of Omicron, which is increasingly being discovered around the world.
“There are concerns. I actually speak to the White House at 5:30 p.m., ”Murphy said during his regular COVID-19 briefing.
“We’re watching that very closely,” he said, referring to possible future travel bans. “This is clearly a time when you want to be careful about where you are going … (and) you need to be aware of what your movements are these days.”
Murphy noted that the Omicron variant had already been discovered in Canada and said he would be “stunned” if it weren’t for undiscovered cases in the US
“The reality is that our region is a center for international travel and trade and we need to be prepared now in anticipation of this variant,” he said, emphasizing that more needs to be known about the variant.
“There is still a lot that is unknown about this new variant,” said Murphy. “We are all closely following research on this variant as it is released, and we are all watching closely as new cases are discovered and reported. We don’t know many answers yet. “
He added, “The Department of Health team is ready to quickly identify Omicron through PCR testing and virus sequencing processes and protocols in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and our own laboratory capabilities.”
Laboratories in New Jersey receive and test approximately 1,200 positive COVID-19 tests every week to look for new variants, said Judy Persichilli, commissioner for the health department.
Anyone traveling to the United States internationally, regardless of vaccination status, must undergo a COVID-19 test and show negative test results when boarding the plane. according to CDC. In the case of a complete vaccination and negative test pattern for unvaccinated persons, the test must be carried out no later than one day before departure and no later than three days before departure of the flight from abroad.
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The U.S. fully reopened to many vaccinated international travelers earlier this month, allowing families and friends to reunite for the first time since the coronavirus emerged and fueling the travel industry decimated by the pandemic. The restrictions closed the US on millions of people for 20 months.
American citizens and permanent residents were always allowed to enter the United States, but travel bans hampered tourists, frustrated business travelers, and others often keep families far apart.
The new variant is causing other countries to rethink their policies to allow people to travel.
Japan announced that it would ban all foreign visitors from entering the country, joining Israel just days after the variant was identified by researchers in South Africa. Morocco has banned all incoming flights. Other countries, including the US and EU members, have decided to ban travelers from southern Africa.
Travelers infected with the new version have appeared in an expanding circle of countries in the past few days, including now Spain, and cases in Portugal and Scotland raised fears that the variant could already spread worldwide.
The variant is further proof of what experts have long said: no continent will be safe until the entire globe is adequately vaccinated. The more the virus is allowed to spread, the more opportunities it has to mutate, scientists said.
New Jersey on Monday reported an additional 1,843 COVID-19 cases and five confirmed deathsas hospital admissions across the state exceeded 900 for the first time since October 11th.
The state’s seven-day average for new positive tests rose to 1,882, up about 13% from the previous month and a 66% increase from the previous month.
New Jersey’s 71 hospitals had hospitalized 950 patients with confirmed or suspected coronavirus cases by Sunday evening, an increase of 57 from the previous 24-hour period. This is the highest number of patients since October 7th.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Matt Arco can be contacted at marco@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter at @MatthewArco.
