Good afternoon,
Saturday evening, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 205.2, which revises the rules surrounding domestic travel to New York State during the COVID-19 crisis. As you may recall, Executive Order 205 (found here) previously authorized the Department of Health to issue quarantine rules for travelers entering New York from other states. Under Executive Order 205, the Health Department imposed a 14-day quarantine upon entry into the state to most travelers from other states. This travel restriction specifically applied to travelers from a state with a positive test rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10% test positivity rate, over a seven day rolling average. With an increase in cases across the United States, 41 states now on the quarantine list and the New York metropolitan region seeing an increase in COVID-19 cases, however, New York has shifted from a quarantine model to a testing model with respect to certain out-of-state travelers coming to New York.
Pursuant to Executive Order 205.2 (found here), effective November 4, 2020, travelers from states non-contiguous to New York must get tested within three days prior to arrival in New York. Such travelers will be required to quarantine for at least three days upon arrival in New York, and get a test on the fourth day arrival. If the that test comes back negative, the quarantine period can end. If the traveler does not do any of this testing, the individual would be required to quarantine for 14 days.
There are some exceptions to this new rule. New Yorkers returning to the state from travel under 24 hours to a non-contiguous state do not need to take a COVID-19 test before coming back nor quarantine upon return. Such traveler, however, must still take a test four (4) days after re-entering the state. Moreover, the new testing mandate does not apply to travelers from states contiguous to New York (i.e. Vermont, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania) given the regional proximity. Further, essential workers traveling to New York are exempted from the new testing mandate. More information about the new travel advisory can be found here.