'I'm mad as hell:' Gov. Carney wants Delaware taken off NJ quarantine advisory list
DOVER, Delaware (WPVI) -- Delaware Governor John Carney said it makes no sense for his state to be back on New Jersey's newly expanded 31-state quarantine advisory list.
On Tuesday, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy added 10 additional states to Garden State's list.
As of Tuesday, July 21, the full list of states deemed coronavirus hot spots includes:
Alaska; Alabama; Arkansas; Arizona; California; Delaware; Florida; Georgia; Iowa; Idaho; Indiana; Kansas; Louisiana; Maryland; Missouri; Mississippi; Montana; North Carolina; North Dakota; Nebraska; New Mexico; Nevada; Ohio; Oklahoma; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Virginia; Washington; and Wisconsin.
"It is critically important that all New Jerseyans remain committed to beating COVID-19 by remaining vigilant and continuing our collective efforts to reduce new cases and the rate of transmission throughout the state," said Murphy.
New Jersey officials said the advisory applies to anyone arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.
Carney said he understands the importance of taking precautions, but argues that Delaware should not be on New Jersey's quarantine advisory list.
"Yeah, I'm mad as hell, frankly, and it doesn't make any sense," said Carney. "It makes no sense. We're better today than when we were first put on the list two weeks ago, and we're better today than we were last week when we were taken off the list."
Carney is urging New Jersey leaders to take more variables into consideration when analyzing data.
"We're going to be on and off unless we stop testing and we're not going to stop testing. Particularly we're going to be testing where we think that we have an outbreak," Carney said.
Gov. Murphy is also urging anyone traveling to New Jersey from those coronavirus hot spots to be proactive by getting a COVID-19 test.
