NY adds 10 more states to travel advisory
New York has added 10 more states to a list where travelers need to self quarantine for 14 days when they come to New York.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the new states on the list: Alaska, Delaware, Indiana, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, Virginia and Washington.
There are now 31 states on New York’s travel quarantine. These are states have a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents over a 7-day rolling average or they are states with a 10% or higher positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average.
There were 22 states previously on the quarantine. One of those, Minnesota, is now off the list.
The other states, besides the 10 new ones listed, include: Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin.
The governor also announced the state had two people die from Covid-19 on Monday, that is the fewest deaths during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The state also had 724 people hospitalized with Covid-19 on Monday, the second fewest since March 18.
There were 66,169 tests were performed on Monday with 855 tests coming back positive or 1.29% of the total.
Governor says bars without social distancing pose ‘dangerous situation’
Cuomo, in a conference call with reporters, also addressed the state decision to not allow bars or restaurants to serve alcohol unless people are ordering food.
The governor said the state never allowed bars to reopen during the pandemic. The state doesn’t have separate liquor licenses for bars and restaurants.
Many other states have separate liquor licenses for bars and restaurants, and many of those states haven’t given bars permission to reopen.
Cuomo said the New York intended for bars to reopen later in the state’s reopening plan because bars draw crowds of people who don’t tend to sit at socially distanced tables.
“Bars are congregations of people milling about,” Cuomo said. “That is what we’re trying to avoid.”
He acknowledged the bars are under tremendous economic pressure. But he said they need to ensure patrons are being safe and not spreading the virus.
“Bars are the last type of activity you want to encourage, a large-scale congregant,” he said.
The state suspended the liquor licenses at four establishments yesterday, 3 in Queens and 1 in Long Island, and has now suspended the licenses at 27 bars or restaurants.
Cuomo said he will keep pushing for enforcement because bars without social distancing are a “dangerous situation” where the virus can spread.
