Coronavirus: New York-area leaders urge quarantine for visitors from US hotspots
- Governor Andrew Cuomo and counterparts from New Jersey and Connecticut issue advisory for travellers from states like Arizona, Florida, Washington and Texas
- Cases in New York, former epicentre of the US outbreak, have declined, while infection rates in other areas spike
The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut on Wednesday issued a travel advisory saying visitors from US states with accelerating Covid-19 infection rates must quarantine for 14 days.
The advisory effective at midnight applies to travellers from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Washington, Utah and Texas, New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo said.
The announcement comes as Covid-19 numbers in New York – once the epicentre of the global pandemic, where more than 20,000 people have succumbed to the disease – trend downward while infection rates spike elsewhere.
Cuomo said the advisory was aimed at keeping infection and hospitalisation rates in the New York area low as the region slowly reopens businesses and activities.
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“They could literally bring the infection with them,” Cuomo said of out-of-state travellers. “It wouldn’t be malicious or malevolent, but it would still be real.”