Mayor Bill de Blasio announced new measures to ensure that travelers arriving from the United Kingdom comply with the state’s mandatory quarantine order on Wednesday amid fears of a new mutant strain of coronavirus taking hold abroad
New York City is ramping up efforts to ensure that travelers arriving from the United Kingdom comply with the state’s mandatory quarantine order amid fears of a new mutant strain of coronavirus taking hold abroad.
Mayor Bill de Blasio unveiled new drastic enforcement measures aimed at preventing a local outbreak of the new strain, which is said to be 70 percent more transmissible than the original, at a press conference on Wednesday.
He said all international travelers to New York City would start receiving a Department of Health Commissioner’s order to quarantine, delivered via certified mail.
Sheriff’s deputies will then visit travelers from the UK at their homes or hotels to ensure compliance.
Anyone found in violation of the travel order could face a $1,000 fine for each day of noncompliance.
‘We cannot take chances with anyone who travels, particularly folks traveling in from the UK,’ de Blasio said.
‘We don’t want to penalize people. Everyone’s been through hell this year. But if you don’t follow quarantine you’re endangering everyone else in the city, right as we’re fighting the second wave.’
At his own press conference on Wednesday, Gov Andrew Cuomo doubled down on his demands that the Trump administration take action to block the new strain from advancing in the US, as experts say it’s likely already here.
A cluster of passengers spill out from JFK’s Terminal 4 on Tuesday, shortly after a Virgin Atlantic flight arrived from London Heathrow
There are currently about 30 flights arriving in New York City from London every day
New York City has relied heavily on its sheriff’s deputies in enforcing quarantine and social distancing rules by busting up large gatherings, shutting down noncompliant restaurants and bars and stopping cars traveling from out of state.
Speaking at de Blasio’s press conference, Sheriff Joseph Fucito said deputies visiting travelers from the UK will not only be enforcing compliance, but also telling them about city services available to help them through quarantine.
The mayor’s office, for example, can help with housing and food, Fucito said.
Under the state’s travel order, travelers arriving from any state that is not contiguous with New York are required to quarantine for 14 days, leaving the house only for medical treatment.
Travelers can opt out of the order by showing proof of two negative coronavirus tests – one taken within the three days prior to arrival in New York and another taken four days after arrival.
There are currently about 30 flights arriving in New York City from London every day, according to travel site Omio.
Gov Cuomo has repeatedly lashed out at the Trump administration for its ‘reprehensible’ and ‘grossly negligent’ failure to address the new COVID-19 mutation spreading in the UK.
Several other countries responded to the strain by closing their borders to the UK, while more than 120 other nations are now requiring British travelers to provide a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival.
Aggrieved that the US government has so far taken neither action, Cuomo persuaded three airlines – British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic – to mandate COVID tests for passengers coming to Big Apple from the UK.
At his press conference on Wednesday Cuomo questioned why the federal government hasn’t forced all travelers to take a test before coming to the US.
‘When did common sense leave government?’ he asked incredulously. ‘Why are we not doing what 120 countries that are far less sophisticated, that have paid far less of a price for covid, [have done]?
‘This is what happened in the spring. It is déjà vu. It is the same mistake the federal government made that killed thousands of people and cost billions of dollars. They lost track of the virus.’
At his own press conference on Wednesday, Gov Andrew Cuomo doubled down on his demands that the Trump administration take action to block the new strain from advancing in the US, as experts say it’s likely already here
British Airways’ testing mandate commenced Tuesday. Delta and Virgin’s, meanwhile, will begin on Thursday.
Passengers arriving at JFK from Britain on Tuesday told DailyMail.com they were surprised at the lack of screening prior to boarding their flight, considering the emergence of the mutant strand.
Anatoly Grablevsky, 19, said airport officials in London Heathrow didn’t screen him with any pre-boarding questions about any symptoms he may have been suffering from or potential exposure.
‘They didn’t ask me anything,’ he said. ‘There was really nothing to that effect.’
Grablevsky flew back home to the US with Virgin Atlantic. He confirmed he wasn’t required to disclose evidence of a negative test as the mandate has not yet been brought into effect.
The 19-year-old reiterated his surprise, however, at the seeming lack of safeguarding before he boarded his flight bound for the US.
‘People in the UK are very worried about [the new virus strain]. All of Europe is worried – and I was worried.
‘But I was surprised there was nothing really at the airport about it at all.’
Anatoly Grablevsky, 19, said airport officials in London Heathrow didn’t screen him with any pre-boarding questions about his health or potential symptoms
Grablevsky said customs officials took down his details when he deplaned in JFK and was told the state would be in touch.
He said he received a text that required him to acknowledge that he understands he must now quarantine for 14 days.
Similarly, Brian Austin also arrived in the Big Apple from London on a Virgin Atlantic flight.
He said there was around 110 passengers onboard, all of whom were also not required to take a COVID test.
Austin didn’t speak to the pre-boarding protocol in the UK, however insisted he felt ‘very safe’ aboard the flight, and when he arrived in the US.
‘They went overboard with sanitation, they provided disinfectant wipes and they were seen to be disinfecting surfaces throughout – so we felt safe.
‘Also arriving here we felt it was a very safe experience. Officials were emphasizing masks, emphasizing hand sanitizer and so on – so we’re happy travelers.’
On Saturday, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that he would be locking down London and parts of southeast England due to a new strain of the coronavirus, which scientists say is 70 percent more transmissible than the original strain. There is no evidence to suggest it’s more deadly.
Cuomo voiced outrage Monday that, considering New York currently has ‘about six flights a day’ coming in from the UK, the White House has so far done ‘absolutely nothing’ to either cut off travel to Britain, or mandate testing for British travelers.
‘To me this is reprehensible because this is what happened in the spring,’ he added, referring to the fact that COVID-19 entered the country earlier this year via travelers from Europe.
‘Doing nothing is negligent. It’s grossly negligent,’ he added.
Brian Austin (pictured with his wife, Dawn) also arrived in the Big Apple from London on a Virgin Atlantic flight. He said there was around 110 passengers onboard his flight
Grablevsky flew back home to the US with Virgin Atlantic. He confirmed he wasn’t required to disclose evidence of a negative test as the mandate has not yet been introduced
Admiral Brett Giroir, a member of the White House’s coronavirus task force in charge of testing, told ABC News on Sunday that he doesn’t believe a travel ban on the UK is necessary yet.
‘I read the British medical journals this morning, it’s up to 20 percent of cases in one county, aside from that it is very low and we don’t know that it is more dangerous,’ Giroir told the network. ‘I don’t think there should be any reason for alarm right now.’
In addition to currently opposing a total ban on all UK travel, the US government reportedly also currently has no intentions of imposing mandatory COVID-19 screenings for all flights arriving from Britain, as Cuomo has urged.
According to Reuters, White House coronavirus task force members backed requiring negative pre-flight tests after a meeting on Monday, but the Trump administration has decided not to take any action for the time being.
Much of the world shut their borders to Britain after the discovery of a mutated variant of the novel coronavirus, though the European Union recommended on Tuesday that members roll back sweeping closures to allow some travel.
Canada is implementing enhanced measures to screen travelers from Britain, including those arriving from other nations, its public safety minister said on Tuesday.
While British Airways, Delta Air Lines and Virgin Atlantic voluntarily agreed to Cuomo’s request to only allow passengers who test negative to board flights to NYC, dozens of other flights every day between the UK and the US remain unchecked.
Britain’s infection rate, in yellow, has rebounded sharply since the end of a national lockdown at the start of December – a resurgence blamed on the new variant of Covid-19 which has left the UK isolated by a series of travel bans. The US infection rate is still higher than in Britain, with some scientists and politicians saying America should also stop flights from the UK
BA operates daily flights from London to L.A.X. and next week they cost as little as £200. The airline also flies direct to Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Miami. Passengers will not be required to provide negative test prior to boarding any of the aforementioned flights.
Delta and Virgin also offer one-stop flights to Orlando but tests are not yet required on those flights yet either. The airline says it will enforce testing on all US-bound flights eventually, but they haven’t said when it’ll go into effect on non NYC or Atlanta flights.
United – which operates two daily flights between Heathrow and Newark – said it wasn’t going to change its rules because the federal government hadn’t insisted on it yet.
‘No additional changes are being made at this time but we will continue to monitor the situation,’ a spokesman told DailyMail.com.
American Airlines enforces testing ‘if the destination insists on it’.
Travelers look at Covid-19 results after being tested inside JFK International airport in New York on December 22, 2020
Oore Adegbite, right, arrives at JFK International Airport after flying from London on Tuesday
In addition to currently opposing a total ban on all UK travel, the US government reportedly also currently has no intentions of imposing mandatory COVID-19 screenings for all flights arriving from Britain
The Trump administration has repeatedly refused to issue mandates for many federal COVID-19 safety policies for air travel, making only strong recommendations on issues such as mask wearing. President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to mandate masks in interstate air, bus and train travel after taking office on January 20.
The White House in August scuttled an effort to require airlines to collect contact tracing information from U.S.-bound international passengers, Reuters reported.
The White House in July rejected a proposal to require facial coverings at U.S. airports, train and transit stations and onboard airplanes, trains and transit services and earlier dismissed proposals to require temperature checks of airline passengers.
Speaking on ABC’s ‘Good Morning America, Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it is possible the new COVID-19 variant is already in the United States.
‘You really need to assume it´s here already,’ Fauci said.
Michael Osterholm, a Biden COVID-19 adviser, on Tuesday said all options need to be considered to stem the spread of the new UK variant. He urged the Trump administration to come up with a plan.
‘We really need to develop a national response,’ he told CNN. ‘Everything needs to be on the table.’
