Travelers From COVID-19 Hotspots Will Have to Quarantine for Two Weeks When Arriving in NY, NJ, CT

New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut will require anyone coming from a state that has a “high infection rate” of COVID-19 to quarantine for two weeks, governors for the tri-state area announced in a joint press conference on Wednesday.

“It’s only for the simple reason that we worked very hard to get the viral transmission rate down, we don’t want to see it go up because a lot of people come into this region and they could literally bring the infection with them," New York’s Gov. Andrew Cuomo told reporters during the news conference. “What happens in New York, happens in New Jersey, happens in Connecticut. I think it’s right, I think it’s smart, and I’m glad we’re doing it together.”

The decision comes as cases of the coronavirus have continued to increase in several states throughout the country, but have decreased in the tri-state area. It also comes just two days after New York City entered Phase 2 in the state’s reopening plan, allowing outdoor dining to restart.

The new travel advisory, which goes into effect at midnight, applies to any state with an infection rate of more than 10 per 100,000 residents on a seven-day rolling average, Cuomo said. Currently, that includes Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, and Utah. Washington was initially included but has since been removed from the list.

Days later, Cuomo added to the list of states to include California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, and Tennessee. And on July 7, Delaware, Kansas, and Oklahoma were added to the list.

Washington was initially included but has since been removed from the list.

New York, once the epicenter for the virus in the U.S., has recorded more than 389,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, according to the state’s Department of Health, but has seen a dramatic drop in new cases over the last several weeks. The state has also been the subject of several quarantine measures, including in Florida where people from the tri-state area are required to quarantine for two weeks. That order was extended on June 5.

“We went from the highest cases, the highest viral transmission rate, to some of the lowest rates in the country,” Cuomo said, adding the state has “to make sure the virus doesn’t come in on a plane again — learned that lesson, been there, done that.”

Aside from New York, both New Jersey and Connecticut have started to ease restrictions in their states. In New Jersey, Gov. Phil Murphy reopened outdoor dining on June 15 and plans to expand that to indoor dining on July 2. Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont reopened outdoor dining on May 20 and on June 17, allowed indoor dining with capacity limits.

“We have taken our people… through hell and back and the last thing we need to do right now is to subject our folks to another round,” Murphy said about the new travel requirement. “This virus is risky enough on its own in terms of the potential to flare back up so doing something common sense as this is… it’s the responsible thing to do.”