As coronavirus cases hit record high, New York expands quarantine restrictions for 22 states
Editor's Note
Editor's note: This post has been updated to reflect new information, and was first published on June 24, 2020.
This is why we can't have nice things: As coronavirus cases reach an all-time high, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that travelers entering New York from 22 states must undergo a 14-day mandatory quarantine.
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut previously declared a mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers entering from regions with heightened rates of COVID-19 cases; Cuomo's injunction adds Kansas, Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin to the list.
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"We now have to make sure that the [COVID-19 infection] rate continues to drop," New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in a June 24 Facebook live announcement alongside Governors Philip Murphy of New Jersey and Ned Lamont of Connecticut. "We also need to make sure the virus doesn't come in on a plane."
Related: A state-by-state guide to reopening
The travel advisory went into effect at midnight Thursday, June 25, applies to anyone arriving from a state with a 10 percent or higher infection rate increase over a seven-day rolling average.
As of July 14, the states to which this metric currently applies include:
- Alabama
- Arkansas
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Iowa
- Idaho
- Louisiana
- Kansas
- Mississippi
- Minnesota
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- South Carolina
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Wisconsin
You can use this website to check for up-to-date information.
The measure is designed to curb the second wave of coronavirus infections, which spiked sharply after a number of states reopened their economies. As the situation develops, more regions may be added to the quarantine list.
Related: Las Vegas reopened with major changes
Cuomo stated in mid-June that New York now has "The virus under control — but Florida doesn't, Texas doesn't, these other states don't. And what happens if they get on a plane and they come to JFK? So, we get the infection rate down and then because other states are high, we could have a problem."
New York state has asked police to check drivers with out-of-state license plates, perform random checks of visitors arriving by air, and has set up a hotline for residents to report offenders. New York is imposing fines of up to $10,000.
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As of today, July 14, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has tallied more than 3.3 million cases and 135,000 U.S. deaths due to COVID-19 — an increase of 1.1 million cases and 14,000 deaths since this article was originally published on June 24.
"This [mandatory quarantine] is a smart thing to do," New Jersey Governor Murphy said in late June, referencing the "hell and back" that residents of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut had experienced over the past three months due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The last thing we need to is subject our folks to another round [of infection]."
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut's current quarantine restrictions aren't the first to be levied upon U.S. travelers. A handful of states including Hawaii and Maine have implemented mandatory quarantines during this pandemic. Meanwhile, Americans have been banned from entering a number of reopening foreign countries including Iceland, Germany and the European Union.
Related: A country-by-country guide to reopening
The State Department's global travel advisory remains at a Level 4: Do Not Travel — the highest level of risk warning.
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