New York ends quarantine list, forces travelers to get tested

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo is ending the requirement for travelers from countries with high coronavirus cases to self-quarantine for two weeks upon arrival in the state.

Instead, Cuomo will require travelers to get tested for Covid-19 before traveling, and again within three days of entering the state, a Cuomo spokesperson confirmed to CNBC on Saturday. New York residents returning from out-of-state travel less than 24 hours do not need to take a test before returning. However, they must take a test after their return.

Cuomo’s travel advisory applied to anyone arriving from a state that has a positive test rate greater than 10 per 100,000 population on a seven-day moving average or a state with a positive rate of 10% or more on a seven-day moving average. As of Tuesday, 41 states met the criteria for quarantine for two weeks upon arrival, according to the New York state website.

Last week, Cuomo said the coronavirus outbreaks sweeping the United States ahead of the holiday season had become so severe that even neighboring states of Connecticut and New Jersey, which were able to suppress the virus after the spring peaks, pointed to peaks that would drag them onto the list. In recent weeks, New York has responded to its own spike in coronavirus cases in “red zones” which have reported higher positivity rates.

Public health officials and infectious disease experts fear the coronavirus outbreak could turn disastrous as the country enters its flu season and hospitals begin to fill up. The United States continued to set new highs for infections this week, Friday marking a record 99,321 new cases per day, bringing the seven-day average of daily new cases to a new high of 78,738, CNBC analysis showed. data from Johns Hopkins University.

—Noah Higgins-Dunn of CNBC contributed to this report.