New York is a beacon for government overreach, stretching their hand of power over the people by restricting constitutional rights through oppressive coronavirus policies.
Now in a blatant invasion of privacy, all those flying into New York City are required to hand over their personal information and travel history before entering a mandatory quarantine period.
If you are trying to social distance in any form or fashion, a crowded New York City is not the place to spend your summer vacation – and that was before you weren’t welcome.
What does the coronavirus ban entail?
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo couldn’t help but take advantage of the coronavirus one more time and fulfill his dream as a dictator.
He issued an emergency health order demanding out-of-state travelers provide personal information and agreeing to a 14-day quarantine period if they come from a COVID-19 “hot spot.”
“Out-of-state travelers from designated high-COVID states must provide their contact information upon arrival,” Cuomo said last Monday.
What if you exercise your rights and refuse to just hand over your personal contact information to Mr. Cuomo?
In a Twitter statement, the NYC Governor heeded his warning:
“If you fail to provide it, you will receive a summons with a $2K fine.”
Even worse, if you don’t abide by the 14-day quarantine, you could face civil penalty charges of up to $10,000 according to the executive order.
As of July 14th, 22 states are considered “hot spots” by New York City for having a high number of cases of COVID-19.
These states include Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Idaho, Kansas, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, and Wisconsin.
The enforcement of the ban uses large amounts of tax payer dollars with little return.
There are supposed to be enforcement teams stationed at all New York airports to collect completed questionnaires from the State Department of Health.
The forms are given to passengers on incoming flights or can be completed electronically prior to landing.
Craig Davis arrived at LaGuardia airport from Georgia and told a local CBS News reporter how the process went for him.
“Just basic questions, like what state are you coming from? Have you been around anybody who has had any symptoms of the virus,” said Davis.
As you can imagine, it’s nearly impossible to screen everybody who comes into the state by air, car, bus, or train.
Atalia Grice from Washington told CBS News she wasn’t met by any enforcement personnel, “Nobody’s even stopping people to say anything. I just seen the sign, so I stopped.”
The executive order doesn’t apply to anyone just passing through the state or staying less than 24-hours.
The irony is it only takes a single contact to spread the coronavirus according to the CDC, so not screening overnight tourists is a huge loophole in the Governor’s plan to keep New York from infected individuals.
“I think it’s going to be incredibly hard to keep the virus out of New York State,” Isaac Weisfuse, a former New York City deputy health commissioner, told The New York Times.
If anything, New York State airports should just post a warning saying, “Enter at your own risk.”
New York was listed in the top 5 most visited states in the US in 2019 with 67 million tourists visiting New York City alone.
According to Skift, New York City had 10 consecutive years of tourist growth prior to the coronavirus making headlines.
It will be interesting to see how next year will look for New York’s once lucrative tourism industry – assuming the Governor is no longer holding the state hostage.
