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NEW YORK: Most people arriving in New York State must remain in quarantine for at least three full days before taking a coronavirus test, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Saturday (October 31) while reviewing one of the Tighter quarantine regimes for travelers in the United States. If that test is negative, the traveler can be released from quarantine.
The requirements, which take effect Wednesday, will not apply to residents of “contiguous” states, Cuomo told reporters, and there will be different requirements for New Yorkers who leave the state for less than 24 hours.
He named Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey as examples of contiguous states, home to many travelers to New York City. But it was unclear whether neighboring Vermont and Massachusetts would also be exempt from the new regime. His office did not respond to questions seeking clarification on Saturday.
Individuals will also be required to take a negative test within three days of traveling to New York, the governor said.
If the second test taken at least four days after arrival is also negative, “you can go about your business,” Cuomo said in a conference call with reporters. If it is positive, the person should remain isolated, he said.
Those considered essential workers by the state, from nurses to supermarket workers, are exempt from the rules.
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The US Centers for Disease Control (CDC) say that the virus can incubate for up to 14 days before someone exhibits symptoms, and therefore recommends a 14-day quarantine period after possible exposure.
Under the New York government, a traveler could end their quarantine just four days after possible exposure – at the airport, for example, or during a plane flight, despite the CDC noting that coronavirus tests can yield a false negative result if they are also taken. early in an incubating infection.
Cuomo’s office did not respond to questions about how the rule conforms to the CDC guidance.
A healthcare worker takes a swab sample from a man for COVID-19 testing in the Borough Park area of Brooklyn, New York, USA, on September 25, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Brendan McDermid).
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A New Yorker who returns to the state within 24 hours of his departure does not need to be quarantined, but must take a test within four days of his return, Cuomo said, although his office later corrected that to say that the test should not be done before four days after return. . If more than 24 hours have been spent in non-contiguous states or on a trip abroad, general rules apply.
The new rules replace a previous agreement under which people arriving in New York from a list of states with increasingly severe coronavirus outbreaks had to self-quarantine in a home or hotel for 14 days, regardless of the outcome of any test. . That list grew to encompass almost every state in the country.
Earlier this year, New York was grappling with one of the deadliest COVID-19 outbreaks in the world, but now has one of the lowest positive test rates of any state in the country, even as cases rise in other regions. The most recent positive test rate statewide was 1.49 percent, Cuomo said Saturday.
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