New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio is deploying deputies to visit the home or hotel of every traveler coming into the city from the United Kingdom to ensure they are complying with a 14-day quarantine.
The mayor shared the plan at a Wednesday news conference.
All travelers who come into New York City receive an order from the health department via certified mail directing them to quarantine. On top of that, deputy sheriffs will follow up with visits to the homes and hotels of travelers coming in from the U.K. to confirm they are following the quarantine. Those who are found not complying with protocol will be subject to an immediate fine of $1,000 and a $1,000 fine for every day quarantine is violated.
"We are really serious about the fact that if you violate quarantine, you're creating a danger for everyone else," said Mr. de Blasio.
The new strategy is effective immediately and in response to a variant of COVID-19 found in the U.K. that models have shown spreads 70 percent faster. New York hospitals began testing for the new strain this week after Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said it is possible that the new variant is already in the United States.