Visiting North Carolina will disqualify New Yorkers from getting coronavirus sick leave
New York workers who travel to North Carolina won’t qualify for COVID-19 paid sick leave when they return.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo issued an executive order Friday removing the coronavirus protections for New York employees who, after June 25, voluntarily travel to a state with a high rate of coronavirus transmission — which includes North Carolina.
The order comes after Cuomo, along with the governors of New Jersey and Connecticut, announced last week they’re requiring travelers from states with “significant community spread” of the virus to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in one of their three states.
The travel advisory, which started Thursday, applies to states with a positive coronavirus test rate that’s higher than 10 per 100,000 people and to states that have a seven-day rolling average of at least 10% positive tests.
When the order was issued, that included Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Utah, Texas and Washington, but others could be included.
Cuomo’s order on paid sick leave lasts through at least July 26 but only applies to nonessential travel to states in the same categories outlined by the previous order, not to work-required travel.
The governor said in a statement that New York, which has controlled the spread of the virus, needs to be vigilant as spread in other states makes it clear “the pandemic is far from over.”
“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,” he said in the statement.
Once a hot spot for the coronavirus outbreak, New York did a “full 180-degrees” — going from the highest number of cases and viral transmission rate to “some of the lowest rates in the country,” Cuomo said during a news conference last week.
Now, some southern states are emerging as new hot spots. Several have seen a surge in cases this month, McClatchy News reports.
In North Carolina, 9% of tests on Sunday were positive, after hitting 10% on Thursday and Friday, according to data from the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
State health officials have expressed concern about the rate of positive cases and other key metrics that measure the spread of the virus in North Carolina. Last week, Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top infectious disease expert on the White House coronavirus task force, warned of “insidious increase in community spread” in the state.
Gov. Roy Cooper also extended Phase Two of the state’s reopening plan by three weeks on Wednesday, as key metrics are moving in the wrong direction to ease more restrictions.
But the governor said he disagrees with the travel advisory overall.
“I think that’s going to cause problems for families and for businesses and I think we’ve all got to realize that we’re in this thing together,” he said during a news conference. “But I think it also tells us that all of us need to be more careful about washing, keeping 6 feet of social distancing and masking.”
This story was originally published June 29, 2020 at 3:14 PM with the headline "Visiting North Carolina will disqualify New Yorkers from getting coronavirus sick leave."
