New York, New Jersey and Connecticut will now require travelers from 31 states to self-quarantine for 14 days to limit the spread of coronavirus as cases continue to surge across the country.
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Tuesday announced that 10 new states had been added to the list: Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia, Washington.
The travel order – first issued in June by Cuomo and the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut – already had restrictions for 21 other states where the positive test rate is higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average.
Cuomo said he is planning to impose a $2,000 fine for travelers arriving from states on the list who leave airports in New York without submitting a form that says where they are arriving from and where they’re going.
‘New Yorkers showed incredible courage and resiliency throughout this pandemic, and nowhere is their work more evident than in the numbers we release every day, including in New York City, once a global hotspot,’ Cuomo said.
‘However, the success of our efforts depends on citizens’ willingness to comply with state guidance, socially distance, wear masks and wash their hands, and rising cases around the country continue to threaten our progress, which is why new states have been added to New York’s travel advisory.’
The list of states that meet the travel advisory’s metrics has grown each week as coronavirus cases continue to spike nationwide.
With the latest additions, the quarantine requirements now apply to more than two thirds of the nation’s population.
Cuomo acknowledged that the quarantine policy is ‘imperfect’, but said it will be effective if people actually follow it.
The policy requires travelers from the states on the list to fill out a location form with information about where they came from and where they’re going before they leave airports in the tri-state area.
Airlines have been handing the forms out on planes and they are also available online.
State officials plan to use the forms to randomly track travelers and ensure they’re following quarantine restrictions.
Airport travelers who fail to fill out the form face a hearing and an order requiring mandatory quarantine.
Minnesota was previously on the list but was removed under Tuesday’s update as its positivity rate has fallen below 10 percent.
Delaware and Washington state were re-added after having been removed from a previous version of the list.
Governors in the tri-state area – once the epicenter of the US coronavirus crisis – have been working hard to keep cases down in recent weeks as other states continue to smash their own records.
As of Tuesday, New York has reported 408,181 cases and 25,058 deaths after several consecutive weeks of gradual decline.
The state’s percentage of positive results has plateaued around 1 percent since mid-June, with 1.2 percent of 66,000 tests conducted Monday coming up positive.
The bulk of the state’s cases came out of New York City, which entered the fourth and final stage of its reopening plan on Monday.
But Cuomo has warned that restrictions could be re-implemented if the city sees a significant uptick in cases in coming weeks.
On Tuesday he noted that there was an increase in cases linked to celebrations on Fourth of July weekend.
‘It’s 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.
‘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.’
Cuomo has praised New Yorkers for flattening the state’s curve, but said his administration is watching potential spikes in Bronx, Long Island and parts of upstate.
The Democratic governor, who’s voiced concern about young people congregating in bars, said New York’s liquor authority has suspended the licenses of four bars and restaurants in Queens and Suffolk County.
Since March, the state has suspended 27 licenses and brought 410 charges against establishments, who must follow social distancing and face covering rules on top of Cuomo’s requirement – announced last Thursday – to only serve alcohol to people who order and eat food.
Cuomo said his administration will close restaurants and bars with three violations, while ‘egregious’ violations can result in the immediate loss of a liquor license or closure.
‘That is a very serious situation, that means they can’t operate,’ Cuomo said. ‘I’m sorry it’s come to this. But it’s a dangerous situation.’
Cuomo claimed Tuesday that New York never ‘opened outside drinking’.
Still, the state’s previous guidance allowed consumption of ‘food and/or beverage’ on a licensee’s premises in outdoors, open-air areas while seated at tables six feet apart.
Cuomo’s senior adviser Richard Azzopardi said the state has reined in the rules because of reports of individuals standing outside restaurants and bars and engaging in ‘mask-less, non socially distanced outdoor drinking’.
‘That clearly wasn’t the intent and is why the rules had to be tightened,’ he said.