Mayor de Blasio announces COVID-19 travel checkpoints with Dr. Ted Long and NYC Sheriff Joseph Fucito. Image Credit: Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
On August 5, 2020, Mayor de Blasio announced that checkpoints will be placed at all major entry points into the City to ensure compliance with New York State quarantine requirements. Travelers who have visited 34 designated states, territories, or areas with high COVID-19 transmission rates must complete the New York State Department of Health traveler form and quarantine for a period of 14 days upon entering the City. These travel health forms help the City with contact tracing efforts.
Individuals who fail to quarantine are subject to a $10,000 fine, and individuals who refuse to fill out the travel form are subject to a $2,000 fine. Starting on August 6, 2020, the DOF Sheriff’s Office, along with other law enforcement agencies, will operate traveler registration checkpoints at major bridge and tunnel crossings into the City, the Mayor’s Public Engagement Unit will begin outreach at Penn Station to educate travelers about home-quarantine orders, and transportation and tourism companies operating in the City will direct travelers to complete health forms. The City has also added digital signage at points of entry into the City to increase public awareness of New York State’s registration and quarantine mandates.
The travel advisory list as of August 11, 2020 includes:
Alabama
Arkansas
Arizona
California
Florida
Georgia
Hawaii
Idaho
Illinois
Indiana
Iowa
Kansas
Kentucky
Louisiana
Maryland
Minnesota
Mississippi
Missouri
Montana
North Carolina
North Dakota
Nebraska
New Mexico
Nevada
Oklahoma
Puerto Rico
South Carolina
South Dakota
Tennessee
Texas
Utah
Virginia
Virgin Islands
Wisconsin
Non-essential workers subject to the State’s travel quarantine are required to:
– Stay at their residence or in a hotel room, leaving only for essential medical appointments or treatment or to obtain food and other essential goods when the delivery of food or other essential goods to their residence or hotel is not feasible;
– Not invite or allow guests, other than caregivers, into their quarantined residence or hotel room; and
– Self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and seek appropriate medical advice or testing if COVID-19 symptoms arise.
Essential workers subject to the State’s quarantine must:
– Self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19 and self-quarantine and seek medical advice or testing if they show symptoms of COVID-19; and
– Limit their activities involving contact with other persons for fourteen (14) days to the purposes that exempted them from the self-quarantine requirement to the extent possible.
– If staying longer than 36 hours in New York state, seek diagnostic testing for COVID-19 as soon as possible upon arrival (within 24 hours).
Mayor Bill de Blasio stated, “New York City is holding the line against COVID-19, and New Yorkers have shown tremendous discipline. We’re not going to let our hard work slip away and will continue to do everything we can to keep New Yorkers safe and healthy.”
“The progress we’re seeing across New York City in reducing transmission of COVID-19 is a collective effort by New Yorkers. We’re focused on continuing and building on those efforts by encouraging those who travel to states with a high COVID positivity rate to follow state law and quarantine at home and only leave if it’s essential,” said NYC Test & Trace Corps Executive Director Dr. Ted Long. “This virus is one that affects all and we want to ensure that we continue on a path to keep all New Yorkers safe through awareness and necessary resources.”
By: Victoria Agosta (Victoria is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2022.)