Delaware remains on New York, New Jersey quarantine as list grows to 38 states
Jon CampbellALBANY – Travelers from 38 states and territories will now have to isolate upon entering New York, New Jersey and Connecticut after the three neighboring states expanded their quarantine list again.
Michigan, Virginia and Ohio were all added Tuesday to the tri-state travel advisory, which directs out-of-state travelers to self-quarantine for 14 days in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The full list is available below.
The governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut first came together in late June to issue the joint travel restrictions, which came as the coronavirus spread had waned in the Northeast after hammering the states in March and April.
Each Tuesday, the three states update the list of affected states based on calculations performed by the New York State Department of Health.
It applies to any state that averaged 10 daily positive COVID-19 cases per 100,000 residents over the past week, as well as states where 10% of tests came back positive over the same time period.
At first, the quarantine order applied to travelers from eight states. Since then, it has grown at a consistent pace, now encompassing 38 states representing about 64% of the United States population.
Michigan made the quarantine list for the first time Tuesday. Virginia and Ohio returned to the list after they were removed last month.
Pennsylvania, meanwhile, appeared in danger of making the list but didn't make the cut.
The state had ticked above 10 average daily positive cases per 100,000 residents on Monday after being under the mark for much of the previous week, according to USA TODAY Network analysis of data collected by The COVID Tracking Project.
The New York Health Department's calculations varied, however: Pennsylvania was not among the states added to the quarantine requirement Tuesday.
Had Pennsylvania been added, it would have marked the first time a state directly bordering New York was subject to the quarantine requirement.
Delaware and Rhode Island — which border New Jersey and Connecticut, respectively — remain on the list of affected states.
Database:Check how close your state is to joining the NY/NJ/CT quarantine list
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut have all laid out their own rules for enforcing the travel advisory.
New York, for example, has threatened fines of $2,000 for any air traveler arriving from a quarantine state who fails to fill out a form with their local contact and travel information before leaving the airport.
New Jersey's website, on the other hand, says the travel advisory is "voluntary" but "compliance is expected."
New York's rules for the travel order include an exemption for those whose stay in a state on the quarantine list lasted for less than 24 hours.
But that exemption is supposed to apply only to individuals passing through a state "in the course of travel," meaning they stopped at a rest stop while driving through or had a layover at an airport, according to state guidelines.
The state also exempts essential workers and first responders who travel to New York to do work.
New Jersey's rules exempt travelers passing through for less than 24 hours in the course of travel, as well as those traveling to the state "for business" or to work in a "critical infrastructure field" like health care or law enforcement.
Connecticut exempts travelers who are spending less than 24 hours in the state or spent less than 24 hours in a state on the quarantine list within the last 14 days.
Here's the list of states and territories subject to New York, New Jersey and Connecticut's travel advisory, which is current as of Oct. 13, 2020:
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arkansas
- Colorado
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Guam
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- New Mexico
- Nevada
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Puerto Rico
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
Jon Campbell is a New York state government reporter for the USA TODAY Network. He can be reached at JCAMPBELL1@Gannett.com or on Twitter at @JonCampbellGAN.