PLAYING IT SAFER
New York extends quarantine order to visitors from 3 additional states
New York is now requiring people from three additional states to quarantine for 14 days upon entering as more individuals are testing positive for COVID-19 nationwide.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a Tuesday statement that Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma have been added to the previous list of 16 states that exceed the metrics for community spread set by New York.
The quarantine order, according to information posted on ny.gov, applies to any person arriving from a state that has a seven-day average of 10 new COVID infections per day per 100,000 residents, as well as states with a positive test rate of more than 10% per seven days.
“As states around the country experience increasing community spread, New York is taking action to ensure the continued safety of our phased reopening,” Cuomo said.
Cuomo, a Democrat, said he hopes the quarantine order will prevent COVID-19 from spread
ing at high rates again in New York, which was the nation’s hardest-hit state for much of April.
Besides Delaware, Kansas and Oklahoma, the states included in New York’s quarantine order are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Iowa, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Utah.
Cuomo’s office said 836 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Monday — up 19 from Sunday, but down from 878 on July 1.
New York, meanwhile, is seeing a smaller share of individuals test positive for COVID-19 even as the state amps up its testing and slowly reopens its economy.
About 600 individuals tested positive for COVID-19 Monday out of nearly 57,000 tested, according to Cuomo’s office.
New York’s testing has turned up nearly 400,000 infections since the spring out of 4.2 million tests of individuals.
Cuomo said 10 people with COVID-19 died in hospitals and nursing homes in New York on Monday, continuing a weekslong trend of relatively few fatalities compared to the peak of nearly 800 per day in early April.
Also Tuesday, the state Board of Health approved a plan that would allow childcare centers to reopen in New York City as soon as July 13.
The centers would have to follow state regulations, including no more than 15 children in a room, masks for employees, and daily health screenings.
“This decision is rooted in health as well as equity,” Dr. Oxiris Barbot, the city health commissioner, said in a statement. “Data show that white and wealthy parents are more likely to have job flexibility or to hire independent caregivers, while these options may not be the same for Black, brown and low-income families. We don’t want any New Yorker to have to choose informal or illegal child care; every child deserves a safe place where they can learn and grow.”