A federal judge on Friday upheld Hawaii’s quarantine policy, ruling that its mandate of keeping arriving travelers isolated is warranted given the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. District Judge Jill Otake, a Trump nominee, ruled that the quarantine policy, which applies to out-of-state travelers and Hawaii residents, does not prohibit people from traveling and that plaintiffs who had sued to overturn the rule “have elected not to travel — whether to or from Hawaii — because they do not want to be quarantined.”

The lawsuit was brought by a group of Hawaii, California and Nevada residents who said the policy was unfair and infringed on their right to travel freely.

The ruling comes amid a spike in coronavirus cases in the continental U.S., with the bulk of the new cases occurring in Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.

Hawaii “imposed the quarantine to prevent the importation and spread of COVID-19 and to avoid overwhelming the health care system, which are compelling state interests,” Otake ruled.

The state has had 975 confirmed coronavirus cases since the pandemic began, and 19 people have died.