Evictions of tenants in counties experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of the coronavirus are banned until Oct. 3 under an order issued Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
In issuing the order, CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said her agency had determined that evictions of tenants for failure to make rent or housing payments “could be detrimental to public health control measures to slow the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.” The order, expiring in early October, applies to experiencing substantial and high levels of community transmission levels of SARS-CoV-2.
According to news reports, about 80% of U.S. counties have reached the “substantial or high” disease transmission rates; those counties hold about 90% of the U.S. population, the reports stated.
The CDC said its eviction moratorium allows additional time for rent relief to reach renters and to further increase vaccination rates. “In the context of a pandemic, eviction moratoria – like quarantine, isolation, and social distancing – can be an effective public health measure utilized to prevent the spread of communicable disease,” the agency said. “Eviction moratoria facilitate self-isolation and self-quarantine by people who become ill or who are at risk of transmitting COVID-19 by keeping people out of congregate settings and in their own homes,” the agency added.
CDC Issues Eviction Order in Areas of Substantial and High Transmission