The New York City Sheriff’s Office will work to enforce the state’s quarantine order by setting up coronavirus checkpoints at bridges and tunnels to instruct visitors on the city’s quarantine rules, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Wednesday.
Officers will randomly stop cars to educate travelers on quarantine requirements and on Thursday, teams from the city’s Test and Trace Corp will be at Penn Station and the Port Authority Bus Terminal to ensure that travelers fill out contact forms. Visitors from one of the 35 states on Governor Andrew Cuomo’s travel advisory list caught breaking quarantine rules can face fines of up to $10,000, the mayor said.
According to Dr. Ted Long, head of New York City’s Test and Trace Corps, a fifth of new cases in the city are from travelers coming from other states. Travelers in mandatory quarantine will be provided with food delivery, medication delivery, direct access to doctors and in some cases free hotel lodging.
On Aug. 2, 66 people were admitted to a New York City public hospital with possible COVID-19, 286 people were admitted to a public hospital intensive care unit and 2 percent of New York City residents getting tested for the virus are testing positive, according to City Hall.
This story originally appeared on amny.com.
