New Yorkers who travel to Florida, Georgia, Texas, and other highly infected COVID-19 states will lose paid sick leave benefits https://www.businessinsider.com/new-yorkers-travel-florida-texas-coronavirus-paid-sick-leave-2020-6 New Yorkers who travel to states with high coronavirus infection rates will lose their COVID-19 paid sick leave benefits, per a June 26 executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo. The order applies to travelers coming from states with positive test rates higher than 10%, which currently include Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Texas. New York is seeing its lowest numbers of hospitalizations and deaths since the start of the pandemic. Meanwhile, cases are rising in 36 states, including Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas. The US just reached an all-time high for daily new cases, with more than 40,000 new cases reported on Friday, per data from Johns Hopkins University. New Yorkers who travel to states with high coronavirus infection rates will lose their COVID-19 sick leave benefits, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo signed an executive order on Friday saying that New York employees who voluntarily travel to a state with a positive test rate higher than 10% will no longer be eligible for benefits from New York's COVID-19 paid sick leave law. The order does not apply to people who are traveling for work. "If we are going to maintain the progress we've seen, we need everyone to take personal responsibility — that's why I'm issuing an executive order that says any New York employee who voluntarily travels to a high-risk state will not be eligible for the COVID protections we created under paid sick leave," Cuomo said in a statement. According to data from Johns Hopkins University last updated on June 28, nine states currently have positive test rates greater than 10%: Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Texas. In March, Cuomo expanded paid sick leave benefits for New York employees who were quarantined as a result of the coronavirus or who had to care for a family member infected with COVID-19. The new law said that employers with more than 100 employees had to provide at least 14 days of paid sick leave and guarantee job protection for the quarantine's duration. Employers with 11 to 99 employees and employers with 10 or fewer employees and a net income of more than $1 million had to provide at least five days of paid sick leave as well as job protection. In addition to New Yorkers losing these COVID-19 paid sick leave benefits after visiting high-risk states, any travelers arriving from states where the virus is surging have been ordered to self-quarantine for two weeks. Earlier in the week, Cuomo, along with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut, implemented a 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving from high-risk states based on the same 10% positivity rate threshold. Those who are found to have broken the self-quarantine can be fined more than $2,000, Cuomo said. As Business Insider's Jake Lahut reported, governors from New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut have touted their states' lower numbers of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations after seeing the most severe outbreaks in the US. COVID-19 cases are surging across the US New York is experiencing its lowest numbers of coronavirus-related deaths and hospitalizations since the beginning of the pandemic in March. On Saturday, less than 1% of tests administered came back positive. However, cases are rising in 36 states, including Arizona, California, Florida, and Texas, CNN reported. Only two states — Connecticut and Rhode Island — are seeing their cases decline, while numbers for new cases remain steady in many other states, including New York. Some states, such as Texas, are pausing their reopenings or rolling back openings of bars and restaurants. The US just reached an all-time high for daily new cases, with more than 40,000 new cases reported on Friday, per data from Johns Hopkins University. Total US cases now exceed 2.5 million. On Friday, Cuomo said that New York was offering assistance to states with high COVID-19 infection rates like Texas, Florida, and Arizona.
Cuomo is now getting full of himself. I watched his daily briefings on CNN every day for weeks back in April/May when "flattening the curve" was all the rage. Now he thinks that the new "14-day quarantine order" for visitors from hotspots, and the sick-pay exemption means anything. MA had the 14-day visitor quarantine thing in place way farther back. It didn't do anything, because it was unenforceable, and untrackable. Hell, anyone remember when RI state police were saying anyone with NY plates would be hunted down and forced to stay in quarantine? Jesus. Logan's Run, why don't ya?
Dumb Dumb is worried about other states trying to deflect inconvenient fact that his infection rate is the highest in the country.
Well ... yeah, the more people that want to travel to a state; the more infections. I don't expect states like North Dakota to have the highest rate, do you? New York is the financial capital of the world. The major international hub in the U.S. Etc. As long as a state is doing everything possible/reasonable to fight it, then good on them; unlike Dotard.
There's another thing Cuomo did not think about... People from those states may need to fly in to NY, NJ or CT for a business meeting. You know, back when the world was normal and you flew in for the meeting, had an overnight stay and flew out the next day. So now if they fly in from those places they are supposed to stay in their hotel rooms for 2 weeks? That is not a way to get back to business as usual. He blew his load on the whole fucking ventilators ventilators ventilators shit. It is very very simple. So simple a goombah like Andrew can understand it. Get out of car and put on the mask. When out with the mask, do your business and don't touch your eye. When you get back in your car, use the alcohol-based sanitizer on your hands, and wipe down the steering wheel. When you get home, wash your hands with soap and water. That is really all there is to it. Same thing as an airplane ride. Or a ferry ride. SAME THING AS EVERYTHING ELSE OUT THERE. They seem to be doing it in MA, which is why they are still below his fucking curve. Pardon me while I go lick a firework coated in Lysol.
Love how the article says "New Yorkers", implying all new yorkers who travel to states but then quietly mentions only state employees. Who really gives a shit?
I took " New York employees " to mean employees of New York. But I suppose it can be meant as "any employee (of any company) in the state". Love to see how the Governor can tell private companies whether to grant sick leave or not. Also would love to see how this will be enforced. I welcome follow up articles if you find them showing any evidence it was or can be. Subdivision 4 of section 1 of chapter 25 of the laws of 2020 is modified to the extent necessary to provide that in addition to any travel to a country for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has a level two or three travel health notice, an employee shall not be eligible for paid sick leave benefits or any other paid benefits pursuant to this chapter if such employee voluntarily travels which commences after June 25, 2020 to 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, and which the commissioner of the department of health has designated as meeting these conditions as outlined in the advisory issued pursuant to Executive Order 205, and the travel was not taken as part of the employee’s employment or at the direction of the employee’s employer; Reminds me of that saying in law enforcement "Never make a law that you can't enforce."
Cuomo is expanding the state list. Pretty soon, New Yorkers won't be able to travel anywhere without self-quarantining. Read the tweet, then the comments. Funny as hell. No one is going to listen to Cuomo. I doubt the "order" will have any success at all.