NEW YORK (WCBS 880) -- Travelers coming in to New York City from the U.K. will get a visit from NYC Sheriff deputies, who will serve them an order requiring them to quarantine, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Wednesday.
De Blasio said that beginning Wednesday all travelers from the U.K.—where a new, apparently highly contagious strain of the coronavirus is spreading—will receive a Department of Health commissioner’s order directing them to quarantine.
“This will be a personal and direct order to every single one of them telling them they must quarantine,” de Blasio said.
The mayor said every traveler coming into the city, no matter where they’re coming from, will receive the commissioner's order at their home or hotel by certified mail.
"Every traveler who comes into this city, that we identify as someone coming into this city or coming back to this city, will also receive that Department of Health commissioner's order," the mayor said. "It's going to be confirmed they got it and then people are going to be held responsible to make sure they're following the quarantine."
But there will be an additional measure for people arriving from the U.K. They will get a direct visit from deputies, who will hand them the order directing them to follow the mandatory quarantine. Travel units will be doing follow-up visits to ensure compliance.
“We’re going to have sheriff deputies go to the home or the hotel of every single traveler coming in from the U.K.,” de Blasio said. “There’s going to be a follow-up, direct home or hotel visit from the sheriff's deputy to confirm that they are following the quarantine, or if they are not, they will be penalized.”
While de Blasio said deputies would be visiting travelers to make sure they're quarantining, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said travel units from the Mayor's Office would check in on people and then relay violations to the sheriff, who would serve notices of violation. Deputies will also let travelers know the services that are available to them by the city.
De Blasio said violators face a $1,000 fine if they don’t quarantine and a $1,000 fine every day thereafter if they’re still not quarantining. Sheriff deputies will serve the notices of violation.
“We will collect those penalties,” de Blasio said. "We are really serious about the fact that if you violate quarantine you are creating a danger for everyone else."
De Blasio said sheriff deputies will be at airports, train stations and bus depots as well. He said deputies have also been pulling people over on highways. Some 10,000 vehicle stops have already happened.
"We are going to be doing that intensively during this holiday season up through the weekend after Jan. 1," de Blasio said.
Under current state guidelines, travelers entering New York from states outside of New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and Vermont are required to quarantine for 14 days unless they obtain testing 72 hours prior to arrival and, after quarantining for a minimum of three days, seek a diagnostic test to exit quarantine on the fourth day. This guidance also applies to many international travelers; more info can be found here and here.