A while ago, New York’s governor Andrew Cuomo said he was eliminating the state’s mandatory quarantine for domestic travellers. And now he has moved one step further from the pandemic-era practices that defined 2020.
The new policy will excuse travellers entering New York from another U.S. state or territory from having to self-isolate. International travellers, though, are still required to keep up with the old travel measures like getting a test within three days of leaving for New York, quarantining for three days, and getting tested again on the fourth day.
Cuomo said that this decision is great news, but added also to the citizens that it was “not an all-clear for New Yorkers to let their guard down.”
New Yorkers have shown strength and persistence throughout this entire pandemic. It shows through the numbers that NY’s cases continue to decrease every day. Cuomo said in a statement. As the US works to build the vaccination infrastructure even further and get more shots in arms, NY is making significant progress in winning the footrace between the infection rate and the vaccination rate. This means to open new sectors of our economy and start our transition to a new normal in a post-pandemic world.
The move comes only one week after Cuomo permitted vaccinated domestic travellers to skip the state’s self-isolation protocols. It was exactly in line with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation.
New York has been opening up more and more industries that were closed because of the pandemic, like expanding indoor dining capacity, allowing entertainment venues to reopen, and permitting arenas, stadiums, and large music venues to once again welcome guests.