Employed New Yorkers risk losing their paid sick leave benefits if they travel to states with high coronavirus infection rates under a new...
Employed New Yorkers risk losing their paid sick leave benefits if they travel to states with high coronavirus infection rates under a new executive order signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The order applies to anyone who is employed in New York State and voluntarily travels to states with infection rates of 10 per cent or more.
The states impacted, according to COVID-91 infection rate data from Johns Hopkins University as of Sunday, are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Texas.
Cuomo signed the order Friday saying that he wanted to maintain New York's progress battling the pandemic.
Employed New Yorkers risk losing their paid sick leave benefits if they travel to states with high coronavirus infection rates under a new executive order signed by Governor Andrew Cuomo. Cuomo is pictured on Sunday's Meet The Press news program
The states impacted, according to COVID-91 infection rate data (pictured) from Johns Hopkins University as of Sunday, are Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina, Utah, and Texas
'If we are going to maintain the progress we've seen, we need everyone to take personal responsibility, Cuomo said in a statement, Business Insider reports.
'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,' he explained.
New York has been touted by Cuomo for its efforts in slowing the spread of the pandemic as the state has begun reopening from its quarantine shutdown. The rate of infections on Saturday were less than 1 per cent statewide.
So far, New York has had more than 392,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for close to 25,000 deaths.
Across the country, there have been more than 2.4 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 125,000 death attributed to the virus.
Cuomo in mid-March announced guaranteed job protection and extended paid-sick leave benefits for all employed New Yorkers who were forced to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic.
New Yorkers also were allowed to claim their benefits if they were home caring for someone infected by COVID-19.
Under the plan, companies with 100 or more employees are required to provide at least 14 days of paid sick leave and guarantee job protection for the duration of the state's quarantine order.
New York has been touted by Cuomo for its efforts in slowing the spread of the pandemic as the state has begun reopening from its quarantine shutdown. Pictured are frontline workers at a COVID-19 mobile testing site in the Bronx earlier this month
New Yorkers are pictured undergoing temperature checks earlier this month. So far, New York has had more than 392,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, which has been blamed for close to 25,000 deaths
Employers with 10 or fewer employees and a net income less than $1 million were required to provide job protection for the duration of the state's quarantine order and to ensure workers had access to paid family leave and disability benefits, including wage replacement, for people earning up to $150,000.
The governor's order comes after he said a New York high school student contracted COVID-19 on a recent trip to Florida and infected four other students when they returned for a graduation event on June 20 in Westchester County.
As a result, the state's contact tracing team went into action to locate people who have come into contact with the unidentified student from Horace Greeley High School in Westchester County.
At the time, the student had not yet developed symptoms of the virus and did not know they were infected.
They had also returned to New York before Cuomo ordered a 14-day quarantine for those arriving in the state from eight coronavirus hot spots - including Florida.
'We're prepared to do the aggressive testing and contact tracing required to slow and ultimately control any potential clusters of new cases like the one in Westchester County,' Cuomo stated Friday
The 'drive-in' graduation ceremony was held at the Chappaqua train station - but attendees said that not everyone stayed in their cars, The New York Daily News reports.
There were reportedly complaints circulating on social media that some students were not wearing face masks and did not maintain a safe social distance.
One infected student later went to a second event following the graduation, where they came into contact with students from other schools in the area.
State health officials have since urged anyone who attended the Horace Greeley graduation or the second event to remain quarantined until July 5.
Westchester County was the site of a major coronavirus cluster at the beginning of New York state's outbreak back in March - and officials are desperate to avoid a repeat of that incident.
The governor's order comes after he said a student at Horace Greeley High School in Westchester County contracted COVID-19 on a recent trip to Florida and infected four other students when they returned for a graduation event on June 20
Cuomo also previously issued an order to stop visitors from states where new coronavirus infections are surging.
The new quarantine applies to states where the infection rate has reached a rate of 10 infections per 100,000 people on a seven day rolling average, or 10 percent of the total population testing positive.
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