Westchester Coronavirus Update: County Eases Quarantine Rules

WESTCHESTER COUNTY, NY — With more than 100,000 residents vaccinated against the coronavirus, Westchester County is easing its quarantine rules.

Those who are fully vaccinated will not be required to quarantine if exposed to a coronavirus-positive person. Nor will those coming or returning to Westchester from anyplace other than New Jersey or Connecticut, County Executive George Latimer said in his Monday briefing.

"We've informed state officials of our plan," he said, adding that New York health officials could veto it.

The vaccination news is good, he said.

News about coronavirus infections is more mixed.

As of Saturday, 270 people were hospitalized in Westchester with COVID-19. The good news is that only a few weeks ago the holiday surge peaked at 588 hospitalizations. But it's not time to let down our guard, Latimer said.

"During the summer of last year after we had the last major wave we were down to 25-30 people a week," he said.

Westchester officials are monitoring the number of positive cases closely because it has remained steady for the past week after a period of steady decline, he said.

There are 5,527 active cases in the county.