BREAKING: Checkpoints will be set up at New York City’s tunnels and bridges to trace travelers from 35 COVID hotspot states and enforce 14-day quarantine – and anyone who flouts it risks a $10,000 fine
- De Blasio said on Wednesday the checkpoints are designed to send a ‘clear message’
- Anyone caught entering NYC on bridges or tunnels from one of the designated states will be told to quarantine
- The checks on cars will be random, with every sixth or eighth car being checked
- They will start tomorrow morning, on Thursday August 6
- It’s unclear how de Blasio will check on whether or not people are actually quarantining once they pass the checkpoint
- Currently, anyone entering NY State from COVID-19 hotspots states are being told to self-isolate for 14 days
- But the only way it is being traced is with people phoning numbers that are provided on forms
- The form asks people to consent to receiving daily text messages from the state
- If they can’t be reached by phone, they are told to expect home visits
- But the form only asks for an address if NY is the traveler’s final destination
- It remains unclear how law enforcement will ensure people’s information is correct
De Blasio on Wednesday announcing the checkpoints. He has not though laid out where they will be or how he will enforce the quarantine once people pass them
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Wednesday he was introducing checkpoints at tunnels and bridges to trace travelers coming in from COVID-19 hotspot states and force them to quarantine, but failed to explain how he would enforce it.
At a press conference on Wednesday morning, de Blasoi sternly warned travelers that the law was ‘serious’ and that they could face a $10,000 fine if they do not self-isolate for 14 days once they arrive in the city.
The checkpoints will go up on Thursday but it remains unclear exactly where.
They are to identify people traveling into the city from one of the 35 states on Cuomo’s mandatory quarantine list; Alaska, Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin.
But de Blasio failed to explain how police or contact tracers would enforce the quarantine beyond asking them to fill out a form – found here– and simply be honest.
The form has up until now only been forced on people on planes. It does not ask for an address if the person’s final destination is not New York, and some travelers have anecdotally reported giving fake information once they get off flights from hot-spot cities like Miami once they arrive.
The tunnel and bridge checkpoints will be manned by members of the sheriff’s department, but it’s unclear what exactly they will ask when they stop a car, or if they will go beyond the questionnaire. Sheriff Joseph Fucito said the checks would be random, with every sixth or eight car being checked at tunnels and bridges.
Travelers at train stations, it seems, will not be contacted by police but will rather be stopped by members of the city’s tracing corps.
On Wednesday, a member of that group said: ‘Tomorrow, we’ll be deploying our teams to stop travelers to ensure they’ve completed the form.
‘If they haven’t we have to complete it with them right then and there.
‘If we can’t get through to you on the phone, we’ll deploy teams to knock on your door.’
But it’s unclear what proof of address is required – if any.
‘We’re not going to be in every apartment,’ de Blasio admitted on Wednesday.
He added that the checkpoints are designed to ‘send a powerful message’.
‘Even if we’re not able to reach every single person it’s going to get the message across,’ he said.
Thirty-five states are currently on the quarantine list meaning if people enter New York, Connecticut or New Jersey from them, they have to quarantine