Arizona travelers placed on quarantine list for NY, NJ, Connecticut
Jun 24, 2020, 11:00 AM | Updated: 12:44 pm
New York and two adjacent states are asking travelers from states with high rates of COVID-19 cases to quarantine for 14 days. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
(AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
PHOENIX – If you plan to travel from Arizona to New York, Connecticut or New Jersey anytime soon, be prepared for a two-week quarantine.
The adjacent states’ three governors announced they would urge visitors from states with high coronavirus infection rates to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival beginning Thursday.
Visitors from states over a set infection rate will be asked to quarantine, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said. Arizona, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah and Texas were over the threshold as of Wednesday.
It’s a reversal from the situation in April, when Gov. Doug Ducey ordered a 14-day self-quarantine for anybody flying into Arizona from New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, which were coronavirus hotspots at the time but have made strides in controlling the virus’ spread.
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“We now have to make sure the rates continue to drop,” Cuomo said Wednesday at a video briefing with Govs. Phil Murphy of New Jersey and Ned Lamont of Connecticut, both fellow Democrats. “We also have to make sure the virus doesn’t come on a plane again.”
The three Northeastern states’ health departments will provide details of how the rule will work, Murphy said. Visitors to New York from affected states will be informed that they need to quarantine and that violators could face a mandatory quarantine and a fine, Cuomo said.
The quarantine is voluntary but “urgent guidance,” Lamont said at a briefing in Hartford, noting it will be enforced differently in each state. Connecticut is considering putting up signs at entry points and getting the word out via social media.
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The announcement comes as summer travel to the states’ beaches, parks and other attractions — not to mention New York City — would normally swing into high gear.
Last week, Kansas imposed a 14-day quarantine for travelers from Arizona.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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