New York City’s Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced new quarantine rules for international arrivals, in an attempt to stop the spread of new, more infectious variants of Covid-19.

All international travellers will receive a letter by certified mail to the address they gave on arrival, ordering them to quarantine for 14 days, while those arriving from the UK will be personally served their order by the New York City Sheriff department, to ensure they abide.

Mayor de Blasio confirmed the changes in a tweet, citing “reports of a new #COVID19 strain in the UK” for the reason behind the move.

Meanwhile major transatlantic carriers including British Airways, Delta and Virgin Atlantic have introduced new rules requiring passengers to take Covid-19 tests ahead of travel from the UK to New York, following a request by the state’s governor Andrew Cuomo.

This page on the British Airways website confirms:

“Please be aware that you need to provide evidence of a negative Covid-19 test certificate before you’re able to travel to New York. The test certificate must be issued no later than 72 hours before your departure time and will need to be shown at check-in when you arrive for your flight at London Heathrow Terminal 5.”

nyc.gov/coronavirus