New York State Department of Health peace officers and staff supported by state troopers have been assigned to Westchester County Airport to meet airline passengers arriving from states with high numbers of COVID-19 infections and request proof that they’ve completed the required health traveler form, according to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s office.
The travel enforcement operation began July 14 at Westchester along with the other airports in New York state. It’s an outgrowth of the executive order signed June 25 by Cuomo that followed up on a joint incoming travel advisory issued with Connecticut and New Jersey.
Cuomo’s order required all travelers coming into New York from certain states impacted by COVID-19 to go into 14 days of self-quarantine. There were 19 states on the quarantine list as of yesterday and Cuomo this morning added four more, bringing the total to 23. Travelers having to go into self-quarantine are those from states that had an excess of 10% positive tests for the virus based on a seven-day rolling average or a number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents.
The states on the list are Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah and Wisconsin. American Airlines currently operates flights to Westchester from Charlotte Douglas International Airport in North Carolina.
Because the state found instances of noncompliance with the requirement for self-quarantine, the health department issued an emergency order mandating that the traveler form be completed.
Any travelers who leave an airport after arrival from one of the states without having completed the required form will be subject to a $2,000 fine and may be brought to a hearing and made to complete a mandatory quarantine, according to the governor’s office.
The airlines have agreed to distribute forms for passengers to fill out on incoming flights. In addition, an electronic version of the form is available online. Travelers coming to New York by other forms of transportation, including trains, boats, buses and cars are required to fill out the form online.
When asked by the Business Journal, the governor’s office said passengers from any of the named states on private, business and charter aircraft arriving at Westchester or any of the other New York airports also are required to fill out the form.
“New York’s success in fighting the COVID-19 virus is under two threats: lack of compliance and the virus coming to New York from other states with increasing infection rates,” Cuomo said.
“We have already implemented a quarantine order for travelers coming in from states with the highest infection rates, but we are experiencing noncompliance with the order that can lead to outbreaks and threaten the tremendous progress we’ve already made.”
