Washington D.C. Mayor Issues Updated Travel Mandates For Visitors
November 9, 2020
Washington D.C. mayor Muriel Bowser has issued Mayor’s Order 2020-110, which modifies the requirements for visitors coming into Washington, DC and District residents returning to DC from any state or country that is not considered “low-risk.” The new requirements require visitors and residents to use testing, in conjunction with other strategies for stopping the spread of COVID-19, to understand their potential exposure. Washington, DC has a robust public testing infrastructure that residents, visitors, and workers can use to get tested.
Requirements for visitors coming into Washington, DC from a jurisdiction with more than 10 cases per 100,000 people include:
- Before you travel, get a test. If you test positive, don’t travel.
- Get tested within 72 hours of traveling.
- If you are a close contact of a confirmed positive case, don’t travel.
- If you are visitor to DC for more than three days, get tested within three to five days of arrival.
Exceptions for these requirements include:
- Visitors from Maryland and Virginia.
- People coming to DC for essential work may carry out those duties prior to receiving the results of their second test in DC (as long as they do not have symptoms or were not a close contact of a positive case within the past 14 days).
- People traveling to DC for a family emergency or a funeral do not need to obtain a negative test prior to coming if obtaining such a test would be impractical, but must restrict their activities to those related to the emergency.
Requirements for DC residents returning to the District after traveling to any place other than Maryland, Virginia, or a low-risk state or country include:
- Limit daily activities and self-monitor for 14 days upon their return; or
- Limit daily activities until they obtain a test for COVID-19 within three to five (5) days after their return and have received a negative COVID-19 PCR test result.
A list of low-risk jurisdictions exempt from the Order will be posted by the DC Department of Health on Monday, November 9, 2020.
For more information on the District’s response, visit coronavirus.dc.gov.