Coronavirus Update: Tri-State COVID-19 quarantine will impact local travelers returning home

ByEyewitness News WABC logo

Friday, June 26, 2020

COVID quarantine will impact Tri-State travelers returning home

Anthony Johnson reports the travel quarantine announced Wednesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo will apply to everyone entering the Tri-State region, including New Yorkers returning home from elsewhere.

NEW YORK (WABC) -- The travel quarantine announced Wednesday by Gov. Andrew Cuomo will apply to everyone entering the Tri-State region, including New Yorkers returning home from elsewhere.

Right now travelers from eight states are required to quarantine for 14 days if they come to New York, New Jersey or Connecticut.

Those states are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Utah and Texas.

Washington was also on the list initially, but the state was removed Wednesday night after New York officials reviewed the state's data, saying, "There was a temporary discrepancy with Washington State's reporting, however, they have since corrected it and we have removed them from the list of states under travel advisory."

The quarantine list is based on a formula. If the states have ten positive cases per 100,000 residents, or if 10 percent of their total population is infected, states can be added or taken off the list.

This is what has been predicted from the beginning, that there would be a rolling curve with different areas of the country being impacted at different times.

The question on many people's minds now is, how will this be enforced?

The three governors are relying on people to report others who violate the quarantine.

On ABC's Good Morning America Thursday, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont described the approach his state is taking.

"What we're going to do is go to every travel agent and say, 'From these regions don't come to Connecticut unless you get tested first or know you have to quarantine,'" said Lamont. "We're going to go to all the hotels, every single site there, let people know from those states you have to quarantine if you come to Connecticut."

Lamont said the state is stopping short of imposing fines for violations, but will ramp up penalities if necessary.

If you're caught in violation in New York, on the other hand, you will face mandatory quarantine and thousands of dollars in fines.

"It's only for the simple reason that we worked very hard to get the viral transmission rate down," said Gov. Andrew Cuomo. "We don't want to see it go up, because a lot of people come into this region, and they could literally bring the infection with them. It wouldn't be malicious or malevolent but it would still be real."

Raw Video: NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo gives details on the multi-state travel advisory announced Wednesday along with NJ Gov. Murphy and CT Gov. Lamont.

Because of the high number of cases in the United States, the European Union is considering a temporary ban on American tourists.

The ban would also include those traveling from Brazil and Russia.

The E.U. issued a statement saying in part, "restrictions should remain in place for countries whose situation is worse than in the E.U."

When it comes to those wanting to travel to the Tri-State area after visiting any of the eight states currently on the quarantine list, the governors say there is a simple solution: get a test once returning to find out if you've been exposed.

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