People who travel to New York from states where the coronavirus is spreading at a high rate will have to self-quarantine for 14 days, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Wednesday morning.
The travel advisory was announced by Cuomo in a joint announcement with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, where the 14-day quarantine will also be in effect.
"We have to make sure the virus doesn't come in on a plane," Cuomo said.
Cuomo said the advisory will be based on the infection rate of states. If states exceed a 10% infection rate, travelers from those states will have to self-quarantine for 14 days.
The governor said that the states that fall under that category, as of Wednesday, are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah, Texas and Washington State.
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The advisory officially goes into effect at midnight.
"We worked very hard to get the viral transmission down," Cuomo said of New York, which went from the highest transmission rates in the country to one of the lowest. "Hopefully we'll continue to see the numbers go down and the economic activity go up."
Cuomo said that anyone found in violation of the quarantine would be subject to a judicial order to enter mandatory quarantine, and could be subject to paying the costs involved with being quarantined. Cuomo also said penalties include fines, which start at $2,000, increase to $5,000 and could go up to $10,000 "if you cause harm," the governor said.
The self-quarantine would be for any traveler to New York State, including New Yorkers who visit a high-infection state and then return. Upon return, they would have to self-quarantine, Cuomo said.
The governor said that several regions of the state would head to phase four of reopening from the coronavirus lockdown Friday. The soonest Western New York can enter phase four is Tuesday.
Of phase four, Cuomo said the state is continuing to study shopping malls, movie theaters and gyms. The governor said New York is looking at what has happened in other states and that the state is looking into whether air conditioning is recirculating the virus.
"As soon as we get more information," Cuomo said, "we'll make an informed decision."
Cuomo said New York conducted 51,144 coronavirus tests Tuesday, with 581 coming back positive, for an infection rate of 1.1%.
Western New York's rate continued to hover around 1%, according to a regional breakdown Cuomo displayed. Western New York had an infection rate of 1.0% on Tuesday; 1.3% on Monday; 1.0% on Sunday; 0.8% on Saturday; and 0.8% on Friday.
New York's three-day average of coronavirus hospitalizations was 1,971 Tuesday, the lowest since March 19, while the three-day average of the daily death toll was 17, near an all-time low.
