Cuomo Urges United Front With N.J., Connecticut in Virus Fight
N.Y. Can’t Stop Viral Spread From N.J., Connecticut, Cuomo Says
(Bloomberg) --
New York is unable to stop coronavirus spreaders coming from Connecticut and New Jersey and will try to quell the rise in cases in those states, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Tuesday.
There’s “no way to quarantine” due to all the connections in the Tristate Area, Cuomo said during a virus briefing. “It would have a disastrous effect on the economy.”
Cuomo said he will speak with the governors of Connecticut and New Jersey to devise a plan. “To the extent travel among the states or between the states is not essential, it should be avoided,” he said.
New York has 43 states on its travel advisory list, the most to date. Travelers coming from those places must quarantine for 14 days.
Arizona and Maryland were added Tuesday because their positive test rates were higher than 10 per 100,000 residents or they had a 10% or higher positivity rate on a seven-day rolling average.
Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania meet those criteria, but given the closely woven nature of the region, they were’t added to the list.
“There are just too many interchanges, interconnections and people who live in one place and work in the other,” Cuomo said.
The number of cases in New York remains relatively low, and the state has focused its own efforts on microclusters mainly in Queens and Brooklyn, and Rockland and Orange counties, Cuomo said.
Of the tests conducted in those areas, 2.9% were positive.
Of 90,540 tests reported Monday, 1.3% were positive, including hot-spot areas. Excluding those areas, 1.25% statewide were positive, Cuomo said.
There were 12 virus-related deaths and 942 people hospitalized as of Monday.
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