New York Ends Quarantine Requirements, Moving to Testing Policy

New York State will no longer require residents to quarantine when returning to the state, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced over the weekend.

New York, which had been requiring a two-week quarantine for almost all travel, will now transition to a new travel testing policy that will allow travelers to quarantine for just three days if they are able to obtain two negative COVID-19 tests, one within three days of departure from the state they were visiting and another on day four of their arrival back to New York.

If both of those tests are negative, “the traveler may exit quarantine early upon receipt of the second negative diagnostic test,” the new rules read.

“New York is the third lowest positivity rate in the nation and New Yorkers should be very proud of what they’re doing,” Cuomo said in a statement on Saturday. “However, travel has become an issue, the rest of the states pose a threat. We’re going to a new plan given the changing facts, and the experts suggest we shift to a testing policy.”

For New Yorkers in another state for less than 24 hours, no negative test prior to their departure from the other state will be required, but the traveler “must fill out our traveler form upon entry into New York State, and take a COVID diagnostic test 4 days after their arrival in New York.”

The two-week quarantine had been a major hurdle to travel for a lot of New York residents.

The American Society of Travel Advisors (ASTA) and other travel industry groups recently called on the Trump administration to pursue a COVID-19 testing plan that would obviate the need for quarantines and travel bans in order to safely re-open travel.

The groups said that in the U.S., 18 states currently have some type of quarantine in place and this patchwork of rules is “confusing and discourages travel.”

In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, and acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf last month, the groups said “there are alternatives to quarantines, such as testing and screening of passengers at or ahead of departure, that can significantly reduce the risk of importation of COVID-19 and may actually be more effective due to the difficulties in enforcing compliance with quarantine requirements.”