Texas requires New York, New Orleans travelers to quarantine

Governor Greg Abbott, issued an executive order for a disaster proclamation ordering a mandatory 14-day quarantine for air travelers from coronavirus hot spots Thursday, March 26, 2020. (Ricardo B. Brazziell/Austin American-Statesman via AP)

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, travelers make their way through Love Field airport in Dallas. Texas joined other states Thursday, March 26, 2020, in imposing quarantines on travelers from the New York area, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., and put similar restrictions on people arriving from nearby New Orleans as the number of cases there surges dramatically.(AP Photo/LM Otero)

With Dallas County under a shelter in place order due to the COVID-19 disease, a normally busy road sits empty leading into downtown Dallas, Tuesday, March 24, 2020. Texas' lieutenant governor says the U.S. should get back to work in the face of the global pandemic and that people over the age of 70 will "take care of ourselves." The Centers for Disease Control says people over the age of 65 are at higher risk from the coronavirus that causes the disease COVID-19. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

Dallas County Sheriff Marian Brown speaks during a press conference at the Frank Crowley Courthouse, Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in Dallas. Officials say an inmate at the Dallas County jail has tested positive for the coronavirus. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (Tom Fox/The Dallas Morning News via AP)

A man has his temperature taken at a control point on a covered footbridge to be screened for symptoms before entering the Dell Deton Medical Center at the University of Texas in Austin, Texas, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Austin is under Stay-at-Home orders to help battle the effects of COVID-19. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

FILE - In this March 12, 2020, file photo, an empty security queue awaits travelers at Love Field airport in Dallas. Texas joined other states Thursday, March 26, 2020, in imposing quarantines on travelers from the New York area, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., and put similar restrictions on people arriving from nearby New Orleans as the number of cases there surges dramatically. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

A park bench is cordoned off Wednesday, March 25, 2020, in Houston. A stay-at-home order was issued Tuesday for Houston and Harris County residents to help fight the spread of COVID-19. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

A man looks at coronavirus related art on boarded up businesses on 6th Street in Austin, Texas, Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Austin is under Stay at Home orders to help battle the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new virus. (AP Photo/Eric Gay)

Traffic in and out of downtown Houston is lighter than normal Wednesday, March 25, 2020. A stay-at-home order was issued Tuesday for Houston and Harris County residents to help fight the spread of COVID-19. The new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms for most people, but for some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness or death. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

by Paul J. Weber
| March 26, 2020 9:11 PM

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas joined other states Thursday in imposing quarantines on travelers from the New York area, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., and put similar restrictions on people arriving from nearby New Orleans as the number of cases there surges dramatically.

Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the moves as Texas surpassed 1,400 cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, and 18 related deaths. Concerns over the virus also forced the Houston school district, the biggest in Texas, to indefinitely suspend meals for low-income families after a worker went into self-isolation over a possible exposure.

By requiring anyone arriving by plane from New Orleans and the New York area — including New Jersey and Connecticut — to quarantine for 14 days, Texas became the latest state to race to isolate travelers coming from places where the coronavirus crisis is most severe. Governors in Florida and Maryland announced similar restrictions this week pertaining to New York.

New Orleans is also becoming a major center of COVID-19 worries, as the number of cases Thursday surpassed 2,300 and deaths climbed to 86.

Asked about the new Texas order, Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards said, “I can’t say that that is inappropriate.”

Abbott said those who don't comply with the quarantine risk jail time, adding that state troopers would conduct visits to make sure people were staying put.

Abbott said 100 Texas patients were hospitalized and that the state had added about 3,000 beds in recent days in preparation for the worst ahead.

For most people, the coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, which can include fever and cough but also milder cases of pneumonia, sometimes requiring hospitalization. The risk of death is greater for older adults and people with other health problems.

Another member of the U.S. House of Representatives has self-quarantined. Democratic Rep. Lizzie Fletcher of Houston said in a statement that she self-quarantined and was tested for COVID-19 at her physician's recommendation Thursday. That was after she experienced flu-like symptoms, including a temperature above 101 degrees.

Fletcher said she would work from home while awaiting her test results.

Houston Independent School District officials said Thursday that a worker who may have been exposed was not showing any symptoms and that the risk of public exposure was believed to be small. Families who need food can still get it at city-run food distribution centers, according to the district.

Another school district near San Antonio, Hondo ISD, also suspended its meals program Wednesday after a district employee tested positive for COVID-19. The man was in isolation at his home, the district said.

The uptick of cases in Texas also continued spreading through jails. Dallas County officials said five inmates had tested positive, and in Houston, a positive test came back Wednesday for someone under the age of 16 at the Harris County Juvenile Detention Center. Kendall Mayfield, a spokeswoman for the center, said the juvenile has been in detention since December.

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Associated Press writers Melinda Deslatte in Baton Rouge, La., and John L. Mone in Houstn contributed to this report.

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Follow all of the AP's coronavirus news: https://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak.