Public can help with travel rules

Public can help with travel rules

FINGER LAKES--With the Finger Lakes region battling to keep COVID-19 numbers low, local and state health officials are imploring residents to report individuals who have recently returned to Yates and Schuyler Counties from out of state COVID-19 hotspots like Florida who are not obeying quarantine restrictions. As it stands, people traveling to New York from places being hardest hit by the pandemic, including Georgia, Texas, Florida, Oklahoma, Kentucky, California and many others, are required to self-quarantine for 14 days once they arrive in New York.
"We have put in so much hard work to keep COVID numbers low, and the last thing we want is someone coming into the region with COVID and spreading it because they are not in self-quarantine," said Deborah Minor, director of the Department of Health for both Schuyler and Yates County.
While requesting direct information concerning someone who is not following quarantine, state and local officials are not interested in conjecture, supposition or piecemeal information.
"We are not interested in hearing if someone saw someone they don't know driving around with an out-of-state license plate," Minor said. "Just because someone has a Florida plate doesn't mean they just got here. They could be snowbirds who have been here since May."
Instead what officials are looking for is information that includes a person's name or contact information.
"We want to hear from you if you have the right information, meaning you know for a fact that a person has just come to the area from (a COVID-19) hotspot and you know their name and can provide their contact information," Minor said.
Reports can be submitted anonymously through the New York State Pause program either over the phone by calling 1-833-789-0470 or the website located at https://coronavirus.health.ny.gov/new-york-state-pause. Reports can also be submitted directly to a local department of health.
Along with complaints about individuals, Minor said that she has already worked with multiple businesses after receiving complaints that they were not adhering to new mask and social distancing guidelines.
"We do have some businesses that we have received duplicate complaints and we do meet with them," Minor said.
Once a business has received multiple complaints state officials will get involved.
"I know the state health department, my staff, local law enforcement, and the State Liquor Authority have gone out (to talk to local businesses) but only if complaints about a business continue," Minor said.
For the most part, Minor said, she has seen local businesses do everything they can to adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines put in place by the state.
"Most local businesses are trying to do what is asked of them because they want to stay open and protect their employees and customers," Minor said.