SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) — New York Governor Andrew Cuomo decided not to include Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut on the New York state quarantine list despite all three states classifying for the list because of an increase in positive coronavirus cases. However, the quarantine list, and a lack of travel, has hurt a local Syracuse hotel business.
The quarantine list is based on a seven day rolling average. If positive tests are in excess of 10% of the tests, or the number of positive cases exceeds 10 per 100,000 people, New York has generally added the state to its quarantine list.
However, Cuomo doesn’t believe it is feasible to demand people from those New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania to quarantine for two weeks when entering New York because of how close the states are. Some people from those states may enter New York on a daily basis.
However, Cuomo is requesting that people from these states do not enter New York unless it is for an essential reason. Because of the quarantine list and Cuomo’s request to residents of nearby states, the manager of one Syracuse hotel said he is seeing fewer customers.
Executive East Syracuse Hotel Manager Viren Patel said that the hotel has only been around 24 guests since quarantine, which is just a third of the hotel’s capacity. The hotel has not seen many customers from outside of New York.
While the hotel will not accept customers from outside of New York because of COVID-19, Patel said he has not had to turn any potential customer away. Instead, the hotel is relying on customers that are residents of New York, particularly contractors that may be in Syracuse for an extended period of time, Patel said.
The hotel’s decision not to allow customers from out of state is to protect the staff, Patel said. Often, people may not know that they are positive for the coronavirus until a week or more of being positive, Patel said. This leaves hotel staff vulnerable to coming into contact with people who may have contracted the virus.
However, this decision has not greatly impacted potential customers. Instead, the hotel is operating at a third of capacity because of less travel. Part of this is because of people’s unwillingness to travel to New York state because of the two-week quarantine, Patel said.
