New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Saturday announced new COVID-19 restrictions for the state of New York, which would require travelers from out of state to test negative for coronavirus for three days prior to entering the state and then to stay in self-quarantine for at least three more days and again test negative before going about their travel.
Cuomo, in a Saturday press conference said, “If you’re coming to the state of New York, within three days of arriving in New York, you must have tested negative and have proof of a test within three days upon your arrival in New York that says your negative.”
Cuomo added, “Once you arrive in New York, you must quarantine for three days and then can take a test on the fourth day, and if the test on the fourth day says you are negative then god bless, you’re released from quarantine. If the test says you’re positive then you remain in quarantine. If you choose not to get tested, then you remain in quarantine for the 14-day period.”
New York State spokesman Jack Sterne tweeted a summary of the policy on Saturday. NEW: @NYGovCuomo announces NYS is shifting from a quarantine list to a testing policy. Get a negative test within 3 days BEFORE arriving in NYS. Once you arrive in NYS, wait 3 days and then take a test on the 4th day (or after). If both are negative, no quarantine.”
Note: New Yorkers who are out of state for LESS than 24 hours, do not need to get the first test (the BEFORE test) — just need to get a test within 4 days of returning.
— Jack Sterne (@JRSterne) October 31, 2020
In a follow up tweet, Sterne said, “Note: New Yorkers who are out of state for LESS than 24 hours, do not need to get the first test (the BEFORE test) — just need to get a test within 4 days of returning.”
The new restrictions are a change from previous rules that required travelers from 41 states with coronavirus hotspots to automatically quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in New York, according to Fox News. During his press conference, Cuomo said, “There’ll be no quarantine list, there’ll be no metrics, there’ll be one rule that applies all across the country.”
It was not clear from Cuomo’s comments during the press conference how the new travel and quarantine policies would be enforced. The New York Daily News reported Cuomo’s previous orders were not widely enforced.
