ALBANY – New York State will toughen its quarantine order specifically directed at air travelers coming from nearly half of the United States into the Empire State as worries grow that Covid-19 could see a spike again here.
New financial penalties can be imposed on travelers who do not tell New York State the precise location they will be staying for 14 days upon their arrival.
“It came in through the airports. It will come in through the airports once again," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday afternoon.
New York has 19 states on a list requiring travelers coming from those states – including residents here – to self-quarantine for 14 days upon their arrival. The rule is mandatory and enforcement a challenge, though the state does have procedures in place for New Yorkers to notify Albany if they believe someone is violating the quarantine. People coming from those states are supposed to not go out in public and have been asked to remain in a separate room and use a separate bathroom if they are staying with any other people in New York.
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Now, the state says the Department of Health will issue a new emergency order stating that out-of-state travelers from any of locations on the travel restriction list – which now includes California, Florida, Texas and other states mostly in the south and west – must fill out a document stating precisely where they traveled from and where they will be staying in New York State.
The documents for travelers to fill out and sign will be available electronically or handed out on the plane and must be turned in by travelers flying into any airport in the state before they leave the facility.
“If you leave the airport without providing the information, you will receive a summons immediately with a $2,000 fine. Not only can you have a $2,000 fine, you can then be brought to a hearing in order to complete mandatory quarantine," Cuomo said during a news conference in Manhattan.
“None of this is pleasant. But we’ve gone through this before,’’ Cuomo said, adding: “We can’t be in a situation where we have people from other states in the country bringing the virus again. It is that simple."
How the restrictions will affect leisure and business travel into New York is a guess.
The administration said "enforcement teams" will greet passengers arriving into New York airports to ensure they have filled out the disclosure documents. The new documents, released by the state health department Monday afternoon, collects everything from where in New York State the air passenger will be staying to their email, cell phone number and date of birth.
Travelers who object to the added disclosure may request a state health agency hearing to "present any proof that failure to complete such form does not constitute a danger the health of the people of the State of New York."
The order requires airports to set aside specific areas for passengers to have their travel documents checked upon arriving in New York; the state said airlines are all cooperating with the order, including notifying passengers in advance of the new disclosure requirements.
The governor made no mention about mandatory disclosure of accommodation information involving people who drive or take the train from one of the states with spiking Covid-19 caseloads.
Three-quarters of states have been seeing some level of increases in recent days and weeks. The state’s travel restriction – not unlike states that set rules, some of which are still in effect in various ways, on travelers coming from New York when its caseload was soaring this spring – is focused on states that have a positive rate of more than 10 per 100,000 residents over a seven-day rolling average or has a 10% or higher positive rate over seven days.
Cuomo said there have been known instances of noncompliance with the travel quarantine order; he did not elaborate or provide information on specific cases.
New Jersey and Connecticut are part of the travel restriction effort with New York State.
Cuomo, who has had guests appear on his pandemic updates in the past, on Monday had on Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms, who is among the Democrats Joe Biden is considering as a possible vice presidential running mate for his White House campaign; Bottoms also recently tested positive for Covid-19.
Cuomo offered to provide New York State government assistance to Atlanta. She asked for assistance with testing and contract tracing; Cuomo said he’d send a state team to Atlanta.
As he has done in many of his press briefings, Cuomo used the airtime to bash President Trump’s performance on containing the spread of Covid-19.
“Trump’s Covid scandal makes what (Richard) Nixon did at Watergate look innocent. Nobody died in the Watergate scandal," Cuomo said.
Cuomo has faced his own criticism from Republicans over policies, since pulled back, that required nursing homes to take in Covid-positive patients; at least 6,000 nursing home patients died in New York from the virus, though the number is believed to be considerably larger because certain details – such as nursing home residents who actually died in hospitals – are not included.
