State issues 42 COVID-19 travel fines
More than 40 people have been fined for violating Connecticut’s COVID-19 travel advisory restrictions, although no one is actively enforcing the rules.
According to Lora Anderson, director of communications for Connecticut’s chief operating officer, the state Department of Public Health has issued 42 fines for violating the advisory that now includes 34 states and territories.
“We do think it’s [voluntary compliance] making a significant difference,” said Josh Geballe, the state’s chief operating officer in Gov. Ned Lamont’s office. “We have not seen a huge number of cases of transmission from people who traveled from the affected states.”
Most of the fines have been
associated with people coming from Florida and North Carolina, according to Av Harris, spokes
man for the DPH.
Connecticut visitors who complete the travel advisory form can opt-out of the 14-day quarantine if they have a negative COVID-19 test result up to 72 hours prior to arriving here.
However, some travelers have found loopholes to the executive order and there’s no measure to monitor if they are adhering to the quarantine requirement.
Some Connecticut visitors from hotspot states have avoided the restrictions because they arrived here on connecting flights from locations not included in the travel advisory.
Connecticut hotels have also not been asked to enforce the travel advisory rules.
“We would not know if they (incoming guests) had been to a state with high levels, so we make sure we tell all guests all the COVID protocols are included in all the hotels,” said Ginny Kozlowski, director of the
Connecticut Lodging Association.
“From our perspective, we should not be in an enforcement role,” Kozlowski said. “People coming into the hotels understand what the quarantine rules are or are at least aware that they do exist.”
In addition to the state guidelines, Norwalk Inn employees have been asking guests during check-in for their ID and if they are coming from out of state, according to the inn’s general manager, James Loukrezis.
The Norwalk Inn is taking the extra step to monitor who is staying in their hotel, although not required to enforce the travel advisory.
“Our hospitality industry has been severely impacted by the pandemic. They’re operating at reduced levels of staff and are really struggling financially,” Geballe said. “So, the burden is on the individual, not on the hospitality industry, to comply with the executive order.”