NJ Discourages Travel From NY As Coronavirus Infections Rise

NEW JERSEY — After New Jersey regressed in its management of the coronavirus pandemic, the Garden State and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo have discouraged travel between the two states.

On Tuesday, Cuomo announced nonessential travel between New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania should be put on pause, but stopped short of including the states on New York’s travel advisory list despite the fact that the Garden State qualifies for it.

Gov. Phil Murphy issued a statement later in the day that echoed what Cuomo said, saying: "We’re urging all of our residents to avoid unnecessary or non-essential travel between states at this time.

Murphy said New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut have among the lowest infection rates in the country because "we have based our approaches to controlling the spread on science and data, and we will continue to do so."

“Our states have worked together successfully in combating this pandemic since the beginning and we'll continue to do so," he said. "The travel advisory was designed to keep our respective states safe, with the understanding that we are a connected region, dependent on each other when it comes to commerce, education, and health care.

A placement on that travel advisory list would have meant travelers from the three states would need to quarantine for 14 days after arriving, something Cuomo and Murphy said was impractical.

Discouraging travel, however, could still have a tremendous economic impact on the two states since tens of thousands of commuters travel from the Garden State to New York every day.

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut all share the same travel advisory standards, which include:

• An average daily number of cases higher than 10 per 100,000 over a seven-day period.
• A positivity rate of 10 percent or higher over seven days.

New Jersey’s positivity rates are still below the 10 percent mark, but the state’s cases have reached more than 10 cases per 100,000 people, according to New York officials.

Lamont recently suggested a change to those standards, which would make it harder for states to qualify for the list. Cuomo didn’t address that proposal, however.

New Jersey has its own travel advisory and has also kept Pennsylvania and Connecticut off its list. The current number of states that are subject to quarantining is 38. Read more: NJ Expands Coronavirus Travel Quarantine List To Biggest Ever