This past weekend Governor Cuomo announced changes to the NYS Travel Advisory. These changes go into effect at 12:01 am on Wednesday, November 4th and will remain in effect until further notice. Please see changes below.
Over the weekend, Governor Cuomo modified his previous travel advisory policy of requiring all travelers (excluding essential workers) who travel to restricted states to quarantine for 14-days, to a policy that will allow travelers to any non-contiguous state to “test out” of the quarantine requirement. This will have a significant impact on employers with employees traveling to any state that does not share a border with New York for personal or professional travel. This modified advisory will be effective at 12:01 a.m. on Wednesday, November 4, 2020, and remain in place until rescinded by the Commissioner of Health.
Specifically, any traveler who has traveled outside of New York for more than 24 hours must seek testing within 72 hours (3 days) prior to departure from that state. Then, the traveler must, upon arrival in New York, quarantine according to Department of Health guidelines for a minimum of three days - measured from time of arrival - and on day 4 may seek a diagnostic test to exit quarantine. Any traveler may then exit quarantine upon receipt of the second negative test result. Travelers who do not get tested will be required to quarantine for 14 days from the date of arrival in New York.
Travelers from states that are contiguous with New York will continue to be exempt from the travel advisory, while essential workers are subject to special provisions in that travel advisory. Those arriving through airports, however, will still be required to complete the Traveler Health Form.
For essential workers, the initial travel advisory requirements remain the same. That is, each essential worker is subject to a 14-day quarantine until they meet certain conditions. Those conditions are:
Essential workers should seek diagnostic testing for COVID-19 as soon as possible upon arrival (within 24 hours) to ensure they are not positive.
Essential workers should monitor temperature and signs of symptoms, wear a face covering when in public, maintain social distancing, clean and disinfect workspaces for a minimum of 14 days.
Essential workers, to the extent possible, are required to avoid extended periods in public, contact with strangers, and large congregate settings for a period of, at least, 14 days.
As this is a recent change, please be advised that there could be additional direction to come from OPWDD or the Governor’s office. If and when that happens, we will update this post to include any changes. In the meantime, please stay safe & reach out to your program coordinator if you have any questions.
