New York To Require COVID Tests for Out-of-State Travelers

New York State is instituting a new policy requiring COVID-19 tests for travelers from non-neighboring states, replacing the quarantine for the constantly changing “hot spot” state list.

By Anash.org reporter

New York State is instituting a new policy requiring COVID-19 tests for travelers from non-neighboring states, replacing the quarantine for the constantly changing “hot spot” state list.

In recent months, the State maintained a list of states with high COVID-19 infection rates, and required travelers from those states to quarantine. The list was constantly changing, causing much confusion and hardship for travelers.

On Shabbos, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a change to that policy, replacing it with a mandatory COVID-19 test for travelers from all states besides those neighboring New York.

The test must be taken no more than three days before they enter New York. Individuals arriving without proof of a negative test won’t be stopped from entering the state, but will be required to quarantine for 14 days.

Individuals who tested negative will still have to quarantine for three days after they arrive and then take a second test. If that’s negative, they can stop quarantining.

Travelers who decide not to get tested will be required to quarantine for 14 days, the governor said.

Cuomo said enforcement would be up to New York airports and county health departments, but didn’t lay out exactly how that would happen.

New York’s existing quarantine requirement for travelers has proven to be largely unenforceable.

Cars travel freely across the state line daily without anyone checking to see where the people in the car have been. Travelers by plane, train or bus are told they have to quarantine, but there is no substantial follow-up where they have to prove they have done so.

As a result, the rules have been widely ignored, raising the likelihood that the new testing requirement will also be widely flouted.