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Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced on Monday, Aug. 24 that testing sites were being arranged for travelers coming into New York from states with high COVID-19 infection rates.
Cuomo said that the new testing sites will allow the state to quickly determine whether incoming travelers have brought the virus into New York.
The testing sites are being set up by the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and New York City Health + Hospitals.
During his COVID-19 briefing, Cuomo noted that New York had an overnight infection rate of just .66 percent, the lowest since the pandemic began five months ago. The state has also averaged under 1 percent infection rates for 17 days, even as they increase testing capacity.
On Long Island and in the mid-Hudson Valley, the infection rate has held steady for five days between 0.7 percent and 0.9 percent between Wednesday, Aug. 19, and Sunday, Aug. 23.
Only Western New York has seen a recent spike in cases, with clusters reported in a food processing factory and steel plant. There was also an uptick in cases at nursing homes in that region.
Travelers coming into New York from states that are on the mandatory quarantine list are already required to fill out a form with contact information to allow for contact tracing in the event of an outbreak.
Those in violation face thousands of dollars in fines if they refuse to fill out the form or fail to adhere to quarantine mandates.
“We’re taking a number of initiatives to protect our progress,” Cuomo said. “The infection rate is low … but how do we keep it low? We do that by making sure that we’re not infected by people from other states and make sure that people are maintaining compliance.
“So to that end, we are setting up testing sites at our airports to be able to do faster testing of people coming in, including hospital staff.”
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