h. nazan ışık—

24 June, 2020—

New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont today announced a joint travel advisory.

(Left to right) New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy and Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont. (Photo: h. nazan ışık/ NKENdiKEN)

Governor Cuomo,”We had the highest numbers to deal with in the country and you look at where we are now, we did a full 180 degrees. Let me give you a couple of other facts as we are here on day 116.

Gov. Cuomo at the press conference showed the hospitalization rate (photo: h. nazan ışık/NKENdiKEN)

The number of hospitalizations is 1,071, that’s the lowest level of hospitalizations we have seen since this nightmare began. Again, when I say we’re on the other side of the mountain, […] this is the mountain I’m talking about.”

“We’re announcing today a joint travel advisory. People coming in from states that have a high infection rate must quarantine for 14 days,” Governor Cuomo said. “It’s only for the simple reason that we worked very hard to get the viral transmission rate down. We don’t want to see it go up because a lot of people come into this region and they could literally bring the infection with them.”

Governor Murphy: “We live in the densest neighborhood in America; we’ve been clobbered by this virus.

We need to do things right inside the four walls in our respective states. …. If you’ve been in a state that has a high infection rate, do the right thing and that and that is taking 14 days and self-quarantining. It’s the right thing to do. It’s the common-sense thing to do. It’s the responsible thing to do.”

“My echo is simple!” he said. “This is a smart thing to do. We have taken our people, the three of us, these three states, through hell and back. “ 

“Remember what happened. We had some of the highest infection rates because we had people coming from Europe who brought the virus,” Gov Cuomo reminded

Gov. Lamont ,”In many cases younger people, folks who travel, 18 to 35 who are maybe not at risk themselves but are highly infectious,” said. . It only goes by working together with New York, New Jersey and the other states in our region are to make sure that we maintain the protocols, the social distancing, the masks, everything we have done successfully over the last few months to bring our positivity rate to less than three percent. “

“We are jointly instituting that travel advisory today because what happens in New York happens in New Jersey, happens in Connecticut. I think it’s right, I think it’s smart and I’m glad that we’re doing it together.” Gov Cuomo said.

Gov. Cuomo gave a formula for the infection rate.  That is 10 per 100,000 (residents) on a 7-day rolling average or 10 percent of the total population positive on a seven-day rolling average. So, any state that has an infection rate above that would require 14-day quarantine. The states that are above that level are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah and Texas.

This quarantine, which is effective at midnight tonight, applies to any person arriving from those states.

“That’s as of today,” he reminded. “ The states themselves can change as the infection rate changes. And we will update daily what states are above that infection rate. But as of today, those of the states that are above the infection rate.”

“We have to make sure,” Gov. Cuomo said “the virus doesn’t come in on a plane again. We learned that lesson. Be there, done that!”

Photo © h. nazan ışık /NKENdiKEN