Governor Andrew Cuomo has just added Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin-areas where COVID-19 is currently spiking-to the list of states whose residents face quarantine restrictions if they travel to New York.
Joint travel restrictions on certain domestic travelers entering the Tri-State area (New York, New Jersey and Connecticut) issued last month require visitors to self-quarantine for fourteen days upon arrival, with hefty penalties for violating the order.
The list of states qualifying under metrics outlined by the Tri-State joint travel advisory-specifically, ten tested-positive cases per 100,000 residents, or an infection rate of ten percent or more, as measured over a seven-day rolling average-has continued to expand each week, as COVID-19 contagion surges nationwide amid reopenings.
For New York state, which was the hardest-hit in the early stages of the pandemic's spread across America, preventing a second surge of new infections is crucial in order to avoid undermining the massive efforts that have gone into containing community spread. According to AP News, Cuomo has warned that the falling rate of infections in New York could be undone if out-of-state visitors import fresh cases.
State and local contact-tracing efforts recently revealed that over one-third of folks who attended a Suffolk County Fourth-of-July party came down with COVID-19, Cuomo's office said.
"It's also clear, based on contact tracing, that many of the new cases in New York are a result of a lack of compliance during the July 4 weekend and illustrate how quickly the virus spreads, with one party, for example, infecting more than a third of attendees," Cuomo said in a news release. "I cannot be more clear: Look at what's happening in the rest of the country - if we are not smart, if we don't wear masks and socially distance, cases will spike. No one wants to go back to the hell we experienced three months ago, so please stay vigilant."
Speaking on July 13, Cuomo made it clear that out-of-state arrivals who come from states on the restricted list and fail to truthfully and fully fill out New York's contract-tracing form at the airport are facing a $2,000 fine, and could be court-ordered to complete the mandatory quarantine. Those arriving in New York by car or train are also required to fill out the Traveler Health Form online.
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