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Washington County Health Department Updated Holiday Travel Advisory

Hudson Falls Student & Staff Traveling back to NY State flow chart COVID Travel Flowchart (Printable)

As the holiday travel season approaches your county Public Health team and your school leadership want to remind families about the New York State travel advisory and how it can impact your child’s ability to attend school.

Your family visits an area on the NYS Travel Advisory 

Your family travels to a State (or outside the country to a Level 2 or 3 country) not contiguous to New York State and for more than 24 hours, will be subject to quarantine restrictions upon return to New York. The New York State Department of Health requires anyone traveling out of the State with plans to return to NYS to complete a Traveler Health Form. It does not matter how your family travels (airplane, car, bus, train, etc.). This form along with details about the travel advisory can found online at https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/covid-19-travel-advisory. Failure to comply with the travel advisory could result in a mandatory quarantine order and even a fine.

As stated above, if your travel was to a non-contiguous state Once you return to New York, your entire family is expected to quarantine at home for 14 days. This means your child will not be allowed to attend in-person classes for their quarantine period. A new provision has been added to the NYS Travel Advisory effective November 4, 2020, allowing for a “test-out” of quarantine provided all listed provisions are met:

For travelers who were in another state for more than 24 hours:

  • Travelers must obtain a negative COVID test within three days of departure from that state.
  • The traveler must, upon arrival in New York, quarantine for three days.
  • On day 4 of their quarantine, the traveler must obtain another COVID test. If both tests come back negative, the traveler may exit quarantine early upon receipt of the second negative diagnostic test. *Testing under these circumstances in NYS must be coordinated either through a PCP (Primary Care Provider) or third-party testing location (i.e., pharmacy, commercial testing center) – Public Health will not coordinate travel “test-out” testing.

For travelers who were in another state for less than 24 hours:

  • The traveler does not need a test before they depart from the other state and does not need to quarantine upon arrival in New York State.
  • However, the traveler must fill out our traveler form upon entry into New York
    State, and take a COVID diagnostic test 4 days after their arrival in New York.

If a family does not complete the Traveler Health Form and it is discovered your child traveled to a quarantine state, you will be contacted by the school and asked to pick up your child from school as soon as possible. Your child will be removed from their class and isolated until you arrive and pick him/her up.

Your contact information will also be shared with our Washington County Public Health team to conduct our Public Health Investigation and Contact Tracing. A member of our team will contact you and go over the travel quarantine requirements including the date of completion. Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a return to school letter or direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

Your family hosts guests from an area on the NYS Travel Advisory

Your family hosts guests from a State (or Level 2 / 3 Country) not contiguous to NYS. Your guests should have completed the NYS Traveler Health Form before arriving in our area and will need to quarantine upon arrival and either follow the full “test-out” provisions (outlined in the above scenario) or quarantine for the 14 day period or duration of their stay (if less than 14 days). They will also need to check their temperatures and monitor symptoms daily, which will receive daily contact and check-ins from our state partners or Contact Tracing team.

Your guests should minimize interactions with family during their stay. They should wear a mask at all times when interacting with family and strive to maintain a 6-foot distance from others. Your guests should also have a separate bathroom and bedroom to use whenever possible. Guests should not go shopping or leave the residence they are staying at for the duration of their stay or quarantine, whichever is shorter. Extra time should be spent cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces (doorknobs, faucets, handrails, etc.).

Your child will be allowed to continue attending in-person and virtual classes, but monitoring for COVID-19 symptoms is a must.

If you, a household family member, or one of your guests becomes ill and gets tested for COVID-19, the results of the test could change your child’s ability to attend in-person classes.

    • If the tested person receives a negative COVID-19 test result, your child would be allowed to continue with in-person classes as long as they do not have symptoms.
    • If the tested person receives a positive COVID-19 test result, your child will be required to quarantine for 14 days regardless of a negative COVID-19 test for your child. Also, all other family members deemed as exposed to the sick guest will be required to quarantine for 14 days as well, regardless of a negative COVID-19 test.

Should any of these situations arise, our Public Health team will contact you and go over the quarantine requirements including the date of completion. Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a return to school letter or direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

Your family visits other areas of NY or a non-travel advisory area

You/your child or your guests travel within New York State or to states contiguous to New York State. The New York State travel advisory quarantine requirements do not currently apply to travel within New York State or to states/areas not part of the travel advisory list. However, bringing together families from different parts of the State or other areas (even though not part of the travel advisory) presents health safety challenges as well. It is important to monitor different parts of New York and the country for potential COVID-19 hotspots before traveling or having guests travel to you.

Please ask guests not to come if they are feeling ill, having any COVID-19 symptoms, or are traveling from a COVID-19 hotspot. Require guests to monitor themselves daily for fever, cough, and other COVID-19 symptoms throughout their visit. If symptoms begin during their visit, have your guests isolate themselves until they leave or get tested for COVID-19. This also applies to your family as well if you travel within New York or other non-travel advisory areas to visit during the holidays.

If you, a household family member, or one of your guests becomes ill and gets tested for COVID-19, the results of the test could change your child’s ability to attend in-person classes.

  • If the tested person receives a negative COVID-19 test result, your child would be allowed to continue with in-person classes as long as they do not have symptoms.
  • If the tested person receives a positive COVID-19 test result, your child will be required to quarantine for 14 days regardless of a negative COVID-19 test for your child. Also, all other family members deemed as an exposure to the sick guest will be required to quarantine for 14 days as well, regardless of a negative COVID-19 test.

Should any of these situations arise, our Public Health team will contact you and go over the quarantine requirements including the date of completion. Upon completion of the quarantine requirement, our team will also provide you a return to school letter or direct notification to the school, stating your child has completed the required quarantine.

Help keep our communities safe & healthy

As with any other communicable disease, COVID knows no geographical boundaries! How can you best protect yourself, family, and friends from COVID-19?:

  • STAY HOME if you’re not feeling well
  • BE MINDFUL of your activities and those you visit
  • KEEP YOUR DISTANCE (at least 6′)
  • AVOID large gatherings (even though we all want to!)
  • WASH YOUR HANDS often
  • MASK UP in public places (or when you can’t distance)

Official updates from Washington County

All official updates and information from Washington County will originate from our Public Health and Public Safety departments and will be posted on our social media sites and public information page at washingtoncountyny.gov/coronavirus.

Washington County Public Health – Social Media links:

Washington County Public Safety – Social Media links:

Click to access Message-to-our-School-Communities-Ahead-of-Holiday-Travel-11.06.2020-1.pdf