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Cuomo Orders Fines for Travelers Who Fail to Fill Out Contact Tracing Forms

Mon, 07/13/2020 - 15:53
A jet plane at the East Hampton Airport
Durell Godfrey

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Monday announced an emergency health order mandating that travelers from states with heavy Covid-19 cases fill out forms with their contact information before leaving their destination airports. 

"If you fail to provide it, you will receive a summons with a $2K fine," Governor Cuomo said on Twitter. "We're serious about enforcing quarantine."

The states currently on that list of highly infected areas, where the seven-day rolling average of new cases is greater than 10 percent or 10 cases per 100,000 people, are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Utah.

Previously, the governor had announced that a 14-day quarantine would be required for people arriving from highly impacted states, which at that time was a shorter list.

Later on Monday, Suffolk County Executive Steve Bellone said it was unclear whether that mandate applies to small airports, such as East Hampton Airport, and who would be doing enforcement there.

"The state has been the lead on the enforcement. . . . The order is in effect at the major airports but I don't know if there is a specific policy with respect to the smaller airports," Mr. Bellone said.

After Governor Cuomo publicized his new travel mandate, Mr. Bellone announced that new, single-day Covid-19 cases spiked to 84, or about 1.9 percent of the 4,517 people who were tested, based on data reported on Sunday. He said the results could lag by as much as a week because laboratories are slammed with tests to process.

The total case count in Suffolk now stands at 42,112, with an additional 20,751 people testing positive for Covid-19 antibodies, which means they had the virus but had not received a diagnostic test. For the second day in a row, Mr. Bellone said, there were no Covid-19 deaths. He reminded people to stay vigilant about social distancing and wearing masks, and to be aware of any symptoms you may have after attending large gatherings.

"We can see what's going on around the country. We've done a good job flattening the curve, and our goal here is to keep it going that way," Mr. Bellone said. "We've done very well and we hope to see it continue."

Also Monday, Governor Cuomo said schools can reopen for in-person instruction if their respective regions are in phase four of NY Forward and if the infection rate is at 5 percent or lower over the 14-day average. He said schools will close if their regions reach 9 percent on a seven-day average.

"We're not going to use our children as a litmus test, and we're not going to put our children in a place where they're in danger," Governor Cuomo said.

The state also released guidelines for schools to follow in coming up with reopening plans, which they must complete by July 31. Governor Cuomo is expected to announce further school reopening details during the first week of August. Health screenings, social distancing, social and emotional support, and a focus on equity in instruction are just a few of the contents of the guidelines.

"Everything is so fluid. You can have a plan as of July 31, and then the situation on Aug. 25 will be so different depending on the conditions on the ground," Jeff Nichols, the superintendent of the Sag Harbor School District, said on Monday. "We plan on proceeding as we have all along, which is in a thoughtful, measured way, so our planning will take into account that we might need to have multiple plans in case we have to change gears quickly."

With reporting by Carissa Katz


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