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Reopen New York: New York now concerned visitors could contribute to COVID-19 spread

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Monday, June 15, 2020

Governor Cuomo says state will not yet restrict high transmission states

The governor noted that other states had put quarantine measures in place for New Yorkers traveling to their area previously.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- Now that New York state has the lowest COVID-19 transmission rate in the country, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Monday the state is concerned that out-of-town visitors could contribute to the viral spread here.

Cuomo said the state is "not there yet" on the question of whether to impose restrictions on out-of-state visitors, as was done to New York at the height of the outbreak here.

"What other states did, if you remember, in the beginning when they were afraid of New Yorkers going there, they did a mandatory quarantine, that if New Yorkers travel to their state they have to quarantine for two weeks," Cuomo said. "We're not there yet. But it is, it is just a great point of irony that when we start this situation, the other states said, 'No, we don't want New Yorkers coming here."

Cuomo continued, noting that even the federal government had considered blockading New York and not allowing people to leave New York City back in late March.

"That's what they were talking about. Now, it would have been illegal, unconstitutional, and would have started a civil war. But I don't know that any of those things ever stopped the federal government before. But that's where we were. They wanted to blockade New York, the other states wanted to make sure no New Yorker went to their states."

Now at 106 days since the state's first case New York has the lowest infection rate in the country, while other states have been seeing cases rise.

"And my health officials are saying we hope people from Florida don't come here," Cuomo said.