Source: Pacific Press / Getty
In the early days of the Coronavirus outbreak, New York found itself as the epicenter of the pandemic as the virus spread like unwanted mayonnaise throughout the state and city with seemingly no end in sight.
After initiating a long shutdown and quarantine period, the Big Apple seems to finally have the outbreak under control and is doing everything they can to keep it that way as the city reopens and residents try to get back to “normal.” To keep the infection rate as low as it’s been in recent weeks, NYMAG is reporting that Mayor Bill de Blasio is setting up new checkpoints for people coming in from 35 states where the COVID-19 virus is raging out of control.
Good move, Mr. Mayor.
“If you come here, you must quarantine,” de Blasio said on Wednesday. “It is not optional,” de Blasio said. “We do not want to fine you. We do not want to penalize you. In fact, we want to help you quarantine. But if you don’t respect our laws, we will penalize you.”
New York, New Jersey and Connecticut are ready to break pockets for anyone running afoul of the COVID regulations with $2,000 fine for a first violation, $5,000 for a second, and up to $10,000 “if visitors cause harm.” Y’all see how these anti-mask people be acting a fool whenever they’re told to wear a mask while at a store right? Better be ready to pay $10K in MAGA bucks.
Aside from the airports the new check points will include Penn Station, Port Authority, major bridges and the two big tunnels. People will be selected at random and asked if they’ve been to any of the major hotspots in the past 14 days. If the answer is yes (they’ll always say no), then they’ll have to fill out some contact forms and submit them in case they come down with something.
Best believe New Yorkers who’ve gotten through the months long quarantine and shutdown that other states refused to initiate are appreciative of these measures being taken by the city. The quarantine will be applying to states that have over 100,000 cases or a positive rate of 10% or better. At the current time 35 states seem to have those kinds of numbers unfortunately. Those states and territories include: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Minnesota, Missouri, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, and Wisconsin.
Being that 20% of New York’s new COVID cases are actually people coming in from out of town, Dr. Ted Long, director of New York City’s Test & Trace Corps, is ready to deploy contact and tracing teams to ensure possible spreaders are located and told to quarantine for the time being.
After visitors make contact with Long’s contact-tracing team, they will continue to hear from the Test & Trace Corps throughout the two-week quarantine through text messages and calls. “If we can’t get through to you on the phone, we’ve deployed teams that are now knocking on your door and making sure you’re safe,” Long said, adding that the city is prepared to aid in the quarantine through free food deliveries and assistance with medications.
If only we had a functioning and competent government that actually followed the science instead of wishing on a star it wouldn’t have had to come to this. SMH.
