Cuomo: New Yorkers Coming Back From Many States Must Quarantine

Gov. Andrew Cuomo confirmed New Yorkers who travel to a state with a high COVID-19 infection rate must self-quarantine for two weeks after returning to the Empire State.

On Wednesday, Cuomo announced a joint travel advisory with New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov Ned Lamont. Anyone traveling from states with significant community spread of COVID-19 into New York, New Jersey or Connecticut must quarantine for 14 days, Cuomo announced.

Later, Cuomo confirmed if a New Yorker travels to a state with a high infection rate, they must also quarantine for 14 days.

"We worked really hard to get the viral transmission rate down, and we don't want to see it go up," Cuomo added.

This travel advisory goes into effect at midnight on Thursday. Anyone found violating the quarantine will be subject to a judicial order, placed in a mandatory quarantine and fined, Cuomo said.

"NY, NJ and CT will continually update and publish on their respective websites a list of states to which the new advisory applies. As of today, the list of states includes: Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah & Washington," Cuomo tweeted.

The quarantines applies to all states with a COVID-19 infection rate of over 10 percent of the total population or with 10 people for every 100,000 infected. Both are based on a rolling seven-day average, Cuomo said.

"I think it's right, I think it's smart and I'm glad that we're doing this together," Cuomo said. "It's just common sense. It's the spirit of community. We don't want to see the infection rate increase hereafter what we've gone through."