Gov gives Jersey, Conn. & Pa. a quarantine break

Consider it a neighborly exception.

New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania residents will not have to quarantine if they come to New York despite soaring COVID-19 infection rates in the Northeastern states, Gov. Cuomo said Tuesday.

On a conference call with reporters, Cuomo said he’s letting the three states off the hook because “there’s no practical way” to enforce the quarantine travel advisory in the greater tristate area.

“There’s just too many interchanges,” Cuomo said.

“You have people going back and forth for work. You have trucks coming in bringing staple goods all day. It would be highly problematic, and it would be really devastating for the economy,” said Cuomo.

While Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut dodged a bullet, New York’s governor added Maryland and Arizona to the quarantine list.

“To the extent travel between the states is nonessential, it should be avoided,” Cuomo said, adding he’ll have more details on that front Wednesday after conferring with his New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania counterparts.

On an unrelated note, Cuomo also announced on the conference call that he’s extending a moratorium on coronavirus-related commercial evictions through Jan. 1 amid continued financial fallout from the pandemic.

“That will now align with our residential eviction moratorium so they are both extended to the same date,” he said.

Cuomo’s travel advisory update came as New York’s COVID-19 curve continued to trend in the right direction.

The cumulative positivity rate in the state’s so-called “red zones” dropped to 2.9% on Monday, down 0.4% since Sunday, according to the state Health Department data.

In light of the progress, Cuomo will on Wednesday announce an adjustment to the shutdowns of nonessential businesses and schools in the red zones, which are located in parts of southern Brooklyn, Queens, Orange County and Rockland County. The exact nature of the adjustments is not yet clear, though Cuomo has said he will take a “micro” approach toward determining the scope and sizes of the zones.

“This is really a bizarre outcome,” Cuomo (inset) said.

“New York had the highest infection rate — we now have 43 states on our quarantine list. It just shows you how different this situation is now right.”