New York, Connecticut Could Reissue Travel Restrictions
At the peak of the pandemic New York residents faced fines of up to $10,000 if they traveled about 85 percent of the country.
With news cases of COVID skyrocketing in New York, Connecticut and across the country Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont has hinted new travel restrictions are a real possibility if COVID cases continue to rise.
Before issuing any potential travel restrictions, Lamont wants to speak with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other neighboring governors.
"I’ve got to talk to my neighboring governors,” Lamont said. “We’re looking at what’s going on in those states in the south that are much more infected than we are. It’s probably not a really good week to go to Missouri or Arkansas I’d probably skip Florida as well.”
In June 2020, Cuomo announced a joint travel advisory with New Jersey and Connecticut. By Oct. 2020, New Yorkers were told they would face fines if they traveled to nearly 85 percent of the U.S.
In June 2020, the travel advisory meant anyone entering New York from a state with significant community spread had to quarantine for 14 days. The travel advisory also required any New Yorker to quarantine for 14 days after returning from a state on the quarantine list.
New Yorkers faced fines of up to $10,000 if they were caught violating the travel ban.
On Tuesday, Gov. Cuomo said he's not ready to announce any new COVID restrictions. But he did say if the number of infections continues to skyrocket he would be forced to declare another health emergency.
On Monday, Gov. Cuomo updated New Yorkers on the state's progress combating COVID-19. 2.28 percent of all tests in the last 24 hours came back positive.
According to Cuomo, 74.6 percent of all New Yorkers 18 and older have received at least one vaccine while 68.0 percent have completed their vaccine series. Just over 62 percent of all eligible New Yorkers have at least one vaccine dose.