Last week, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that four additional states meet the metrics to qualify for the travel advisory requiring individuals who have traveled to New York from those states, all of which have significant community spread, to quarantine for 14 days.
The newly added states include Minnesota, New Mexico, Ohio and Wisconsin. Delaware has been removed.
The complete list of states under the travel advisory include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.
The governor as of last week also put travel enforcement operations in place at airports across the state to help ensure travelers are following the state’s quarantine restrictions and to help contain the rates of COVID-19 transmission in New York State.
As part of the enforcement operation, according to the governor, enforcement teams will be stationed at airports statewide to meet arriving aircrafts at gates and greet disembarking passengers to request proof of completion of the State Department of Health traveler form, which is being distributed to passengers by airlines prior to, and upon boarding or disembarking flights to New York State.
A new electronic version of the DOH traveler form, located at https://forms.ny.gov/s3/Welcome-to-New-York-State-Traveler-Health-Form, is also available, making it easier and more efficient for travelers to complete the form.
State DOH has also issued an emergency health order mandating that all out-of-state travelers from designated states complete the DOH traveler form upon entering New York. Travelers who leave the airport without completing the form will be subject to a $2,000 fine and may be brought to a hearing and ordered to complete mandatory quarantine.
MacArthur, Westchester, Albany, Syracuse, Rochester, Buffalo and Niagara Falls Airports will have enforcement teams on site daily based on daily arrivals from impacted states.
Elmira, Ogdensburg and Plattsburgh Airports will have enforcement teams on site based on non-daily arrivals from impacted states. The enforcement teams stationed at these regional airports will be comprised of State DOH peace officers and staff supported by State Police personnel and will meet arriving aircrafts at gates and greet disembarking passengers to request proof of completion of the State DOH traveler form.
In addition, on Thursday the governor announced that all restaurants and bars statewide will be subject to new requirements that they must only serve alcohol to people who are ordering and eating food and that all service at bar tops must only be for seated patrons who are socially distanced by six feet or separated by physical barriers.
Under current law, only establishments that serve food are permitted to serve alcoholic beverages. Citizens who see violations or are concerned can report complaints, including photos, to the State Liquor Authority at www.sla.ny.gov.
As of July 29, 2020, Tennessee’s percentage of positive cases is 6.9%, and should not be on your list of “states designated as having significant community spread”.
The quarantine applies to any person arriving from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or a state with a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average. Per this paragraph, is the 10% positivity rate supposed to be the same as 10 per 100,000? If so, the math does not compute! 10 per 100,000 is 0.01%, or 1000X LESS.