Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo ordered incoming travelers from non-neighboring states to New York to be tested for the coronavirus before and after entry, instead of requiring travelers from dozens of states to quarantine for 14 days.
Mr. Cuomo unveiled the order as the United States nearly reached 100,000 new cases on Friday, a record, and deaths from the virus inch closer to 1,000 per day.
New York had previously maintained a weekly list of states from which visitors were required to quarantine for two weeks, but abandoned it as the number of states experiencing intense community spread grew to over three dozen. Mr. Cuomo said that by the state’s own standards, New York’s rise in cases over the past week would have put it on its own quarantine list.
The requirement takes effect at 12:01 a.m. Wednesday. Enforcement, sure to be difficult, will be left to local boards of health and airports. The governor did not elaborate on enforcement details.
People who had been out of the state for more than 24 hours will be required to test negative within three days before coming to New York. After arriving, they will be required to quarantine for three days and take another test on their fourth day in the state. If it is negative, they will not have to complete the 14-day quarantine.
Those who leave the state for less than 24 hours will not have to quarantine for three days, but will need to get a test on the fourth day after their return to New York. They will not need to test negative before returning to New York.
People who choose not to get tested will be required to quarantine for 14 days, Mr. Cuomo said, adding, “I don’t know why anybody would do that.”
The testing requirement does not apply to people from neighboring states — New Jersey, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Vermont and Pennsylvania — “because of the close regional ties,” Jack Sterne, a spokesman for the governor, said in a tweet. Essential workers will also be exempt.
New York’s testing policy has been robust; more than 136,000 people were tested in total on Friday alone.
Though New York had less than 1,000 new cases per day for most of the summer, it has experienced an uptick in recent weeks. On Friday, the 7-day average of new cases per day was 1,952, according to a New York Times database. The state surpassed a total of 500,000 known infections last Sunday, the fourth-highest count in the country, after California, Texas and Florida.
Hospitalizations have also been rising in New York in recent weeks, with more than 1,100 reported on Saturday.
With its new testing strategy for incoming travelers, New York joins other parts of the United States that have acted similarly to allow visitors or returning residents to avoid a prohibitive 14-day quarantine.
Earlier this month, Hawaii allowed travelers to skip its mandated 14-day quarantine if they had proof of a negative test within 72 hours before departing to the state.
The move was welcomed by Hawaii’s tourism industry, which has been pummeled by the pandemic. Airports in the state were quickly filled with lines of travelers.
Similarly, travelers entering Puerto Rico are required to show proof of a negative test within 72 hours of arriving to the island. Otherwise, they are required to quarantine.
The New York Times