Recent blip lands Minnesota on New York quarantine list — Wisconsin also included

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — A recent spike in confirmed coronavirus cases in Minnesota has landed the state on the quarantine list for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Tuesday that Minnesota and three other states — New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin — were added to the list as officials in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut try to contain the spread of the coronavirus from regions of the country where infection rates are growing.

Minnesota health officials are surprised by the addition because COVID-19 case growth in the state has been moderate for more than a month and daily death and hospitalization totals have been declining.

“We are looking into this as it does not jibe with our data,” Minnesota’s infectious disease director Kris Ehresmann told the Star Tribune in an email.

But a two-day spike in confirmed COVID-19 cases last weekend was enough to put Minnesota on the list.

The addition of Minnesota and the other three states means that travelers from 22 states will be required to quarantine for 14 days upon entering New York.

Last month, the governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut announced a joint travel advisory that 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 positive rate over a seven-day rolling average.

Minnesota’s COVID-19 response page shows a case rate of 6 per 100,000 and a positive testing rate of only 3%. But the page is based on case data through July 8, and doesn’t reflect the spike in confirmed cases this past weekend.