- Travelers to New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from states with COVID-19 outbreaks will have to self-quarantine for 14 days, effective at midnight on Wednesday, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.
- Cuomo, in conjunction with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, cited the increases in coronavirus cases across the country as the reason for the move, which he argued would help preserve the tristate area's reopening efforts.
- Cuomo said the threshold for a state whose travelers will be required to quarantine would be a 10% positive COVID-19 testing rate or at least 10 new positive cases per 100,000 people on a seven-day rolling average.
- States immediately affected under those criteria are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah, and Texas.
People traveling to New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut from states with COVID-19 outbreaks will have to self-quarantine for two weeks when they arrive, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Wednesday.
Coronavirus cases are rising in more than 25 states, and the US on Tuesday reported its third-highest number of new cases since the start of the pandemic.
Cuomo convened remotely with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, both of whom said their state's health departments would coordinate with New York's to specify enforcement and other details of the measure, which takes effect at midnight on Wednesday.
Cuomo said the threshold for a state whose visitors would be required to self-quarantine would be a 10% positive COVID-19 testing rate or 10 new cases per 100,000 people on a seven-day rolling average.
That threshold is stricter than what the European Union is said to be considering for a travel ban. However, Cuomo noted that it would be unconstitutional for anyone to be prevented from crossing state lines, making the measure a travel advisory instead of a ban.
Lamont said there would be an advertising campaign for the initiative to inform the public, and Cuomo added that major airlines had been informed about the criteria so they could advise passengers.
"We reluctantly came to the conclusion that this is what we have to do," Murphy said.
Cuomo said fines starting at $2,000 could be issued to people found to have broken the self-quarantine order in New York. He said that, for example, hotels or businesses that ask travelers whether they quarantined could report those who violated the rule.
All three governors touted their states' lower number of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations since seeing the most severe outbreaks in the US. Cuomo said the measure was designed to help the states continue their reopening efforts.
Cuomo said that as of Wednesday travelers from the following states would be subject to a 14-day quarantine:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- Florida
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- Washington
- Utah
- Texas
"Denial is not a life strategy," Cuomo said. "It never is."
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