Gov. Andrew Cuomo: Police May Stop Cars with Out-of-State Plates to Enforce Quarantine

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) warned Wednesday that some out-of-state travelers to New York might be pulled over by police if they have license plates from states with high levels of the coronavirus.

Cuomo said that in addition to law enforcement, he would expect individuals such as hotel clerks and businesses in New York to question travelers from select states.

“You’re stopped by a police officer who says, ‘You’re driving a car from Florida. Weren’t you supposed to be on quarantine for 14 days?’” he said, citing an example.

Travelers from Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, Washington, Utah, and Texas would be ordered to put themselves into mandatory quarantine for 14 days, Cuomo announced on Wednesday, in a decision also reached by the Democrat governors of New Jersey and Connecticut.

Cuomo said that the quarantine order would go into effect on Wednesday evening.

“Tonight, 12:00, get on a plane quickly,” he said with a chuckle.

He warned that his order was not just a symbolic gesture but would be enforced by the state.

“You violate the quarantine, you will then have to do mandatory quarantine and you will be fined,” he said.

Cuomo warned New York residents that even if they traveled to vacation in a state with high infection rates, they would be required to quarantine.

“You can break the law, and if you don’t get caught you’re fine, but that’s a big if, right?” Cuomo said, warning that violators of the quarantine would face thousands of dollars in fines.