Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that five states were removed from the travel advisory requiring a 14-day quarantine. Those states include Alaska, Arizona, Delaware, Maryland, and Montana. Guam met the metrics to qualify for the advisory.
The full, updated travel advisory list now includes Alabama, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Guam, Hawaii, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, Nevada, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Virgin Islands, Wisconsin.
Governor Cuomo also announced that lower-risk, school-sponsored sports in all regions can begin to practice and play beginning Sept. 21. However, travel for practice or play will be prohibited outside of the school’s region or contiguous regions or counties until Oct. 19. For the fall sports season, lower- and moderate-risk sports include tennis, soccer, cross country, field hockey and swimming.
Higher-risk sports, including those with full physical contact, can begin to practice on Sept. 21, but cannot play until a later date or Dec. 31.
In accordance with the Department of Health’s guidance for sports and recreation during the COVID-19 public health emergency, practices for higher-risk sports are limited to individual or group, no- to low-contact training. Higher-risk sports include football, wrestling, rugby, hockey and volleyball. You can find that guidance at www.governor.ny.gov/sites/governor.ny.gov/files/atoms/files/SportsAndRecreationMasterGuidance.pdf.
Schools must follow the Department’s guidance for the conduct of their school sports. Schools will have to limit capacity of indoor facilities to no more than 50 percent occupancy and limit spectators to no more than two spectators per player, in addition to implementing social distancing and face coverings.
Governor Cuomo last week issued an executive order regarding voting. The order requires county boards of elections to take concrete steps to inform voters of upcoming deadlines, be prepared for upcoming elections, and help ensure absentee ballots can be used in all elections.
On Aug. 20, Governor Cuomo signed into law sweeping election reforms that he stated would make it easier for New Yorkers to vote and be counted in November.
The executive order requires county boards of elections to send a mailing outlining all deadlines for voters by Tuesday, Sept. 8; send staffing plans and needs to the New York State Board of Elections by Sept. 20 so BOE can assist in ensuring adequate coverage; adopt a uniform clarified envelope for absentee ballots and require counties to use it; count votes faster – require all objections to be made by the county board in real time, make sure that boards are ready to count votes and reconcile affidavit and absentee ballots by 48 hours after elections; and provide an option for New Yorkers to vote absentee in village, town and special district elections.
For more information or details on any of these New York State actions, or for further guidance, visit forward.ny.gov.
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