Gov. Andrew Cuomo is adding eight more states to a travel advisory list, as visitors from California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee will now be required to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arriving in New York.
The new restrictions bring the total number of states included in the travel advisory and considered to have rates of COVID-19 infections to 16, a list that includes Texas and Florida. All together, the 16 states represent nearly half of the nation’s total population.
The states have recorded 10 or more people infected with the virus for every 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average, or have a 10% or higher positivity rate over a seven-day period.
Meanwhile, the rate of the virus in New York state continues to be low. Thirteen people died on Monday, down from a high of around 800 deaths per day at the height of the pandemic in the state, while the infection rate is around 1%, which means the rate is holding steady.
“The good news is, our house is doing very well,” Cuomo said, speaking on NY 1.“The bad news is the neighbors’ home is on fire.”
The governor said New York went through 111 days of “hell,” with thousands of deaths and the economic shutdown, and he does not want to have to “do the impossible” again.
Cuomo blamed the federal government and President Donald Trump’s administration, which he said has lacked a plan and refused to admit that there’s a problem.
“The virus is raging all across the nation, and that’s because we have a federal government that just missed this,” Cuomo said. “They denied it from the first place. Let’s be honest.”
New Yorkers who travel to the states in the travel advisory will also have to self-quarantine when they return. Cuomo has rescinded paid COVID-19-related sick leave for workers who travel to any of the high virus states on vacation and then have to stay home when they return.
The governor also said he’s deploying state police and state liquor authority agents to monitor outdoor eating and drinking at bars and restaurants in New York City, to determine whether people are behaving safely and if indoor dining can be permitted. There have been numerous reports of crowds congregating outside some bars and restaurants. Cuomo said he’ll decide Wednesday whether to allow indoor dining or not.
