#Gov. Cuomo adds eight states to NY region’s quarantine order

ALBANY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo added eight new states to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut’s 14-day quarantine order for travelers Tuesday, growing the state’s list to 16 states experiencing coronavirus spikes.

That means individuals entering the Empire State from California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada and Tennessee will now have to quarantine for 14 days, or face fines and penalties for noncompliance.

“If you don’t admit you have a problem, you’re not going to come up with a solution. We’re trying to keep the infection out of New York,” Cuomo said during an interview on NY1.

“Remember the way the infection started in New York is it came from Europe, came on airplanes through our airports. Now we have all these other states that are highly infected. We’re afraid that they’re going to fly into New York and cause the same problem and it’s only getting worse.”

“We now have 16 states that meet the formula for quarantine. That has gone way up. Now California, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nevada, Tennessee – they hit the quarantine threshold. So 16 states are now subject to the quarantine in New York. That’s a very significant problem,” he added.

Cuomo, along with “regional partners” New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy and Connecticut Gov. New Lamont, imposed a 14-day isolation order for visitors coming from ­Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas, Utah and Washington.

The mandate went into effect Thursday.

States that get on the tri-state area’s list must either show a state-infection rate that is 10 COVID-19 infections per 100,000 people, or a 10 percent or higher positivity rate over a seven-day rolling average.

Cuomo has said “random checks” will be performed by inspectors on travelers, and the state will also rely on “the honor system.”

The third-term Democrat has justified the move due to rising infection rates across the country, as other states are seeing spikes following their own separate economic reopening plans.