NYC Mayor Bill de Blasio today revealed ‘Stepped up Enforcement’ of DOH Travel Form Rules.

Mayor Bill de Blasio today revealed additional procedures for the enforcement of Department of Health Traveler Form compliance.

With 33 states and territories presently on New York State’s Travel Advisory Watch-list the Mayor has been taking steps to ensure the safety of the city since early August.

The NYC Sheriff’s Office will now have a presence at the Port Authority bus terminal for the purpose of boarding approaching buses coming from states and locales on the travel advisory list.

His administration’s approach began on August 5 with the NYC Sheriff’s patrols of entryways leading into NYC called COVID-19 traveler registration checkpoints.

On August 18 he signed Executive Order 141 mandating hotels and short-term stays to require visitors from states on the watch-list to abide by the DOH regulations of signing the required travel form.

It at his signing that he said that it would “be part of a series of stepped up actions to make clear just how serious this quarantine is.”

I asked the Mayor about what that meant and he merely clarified that there will surely be more enforcement on the way. That which he announced today surely appears to answer my question.

The Mayor today:

“So, I want to make sure if you’re one of those folks listening to my voice now, or friends, family, coworkers, anyone in your life, if they’ve come back from one of those 33 states and territories up on the screen now – if you’re coming back from one of those 33 States or territories, you’ve got to quarantine for two weeks. It is the smart thing to do. It’s the safe thing to do. It will keep you and your family and your community safe, and it is the law. So, again, whether you’re a New Yorker coming back, or whether you’re someone visiting either coming from one of those 33 places, you have to quarantine. Now, we are doing more and more to make sure people understand that – more and more activity at airports, at highways, bridges, tunnels, you name it”

“But here’s another new piece – and the Sheriff’s Office has done an outstanding job. I want to thank Sheriff Joe Fucito and his whole team. They have a new approach at the Port Authority bus terminal, where they will be pulling over buses before they arrive. And this is buses that are coming specifically from states with a high rate of COVID. And they’ll be giving out those traveler health forms to get people right away to sign up so we can make sure they quarantine. So, the officers are literally be going on the buses, talking to the passengers, giving out those forms, making sure that people fill them out.”