Virus checkpoints going up to keep city safe

Mayor de Blasio announced checkpoints for the bridgeand-tunnel crowd to comply with the state’s mandatory 14-day coronavirus quarantine rule for those arriving from COVID-19 hotspots.

“They [visitors] will be reminded that it is required, not optional,” de Blasio said on Wednesday. “This is serious stuff. If we’re going to hold at this level, the quarantine is going to have to be enforced.”

The city sheriff’s office and other officials said they would deploy to Penn Station, airports, bridges, tunnels, and on major roadways to quiz travelers about their plans and register with authorities.

Currently, there are 34 states in plus Puerto Rico where COVID-19 rates are too high or rising according to state metrics, de Blasio said. The restriction of states is based upon a seven-day rolling average, of positive coronavirus tests in excess of 10%, or number of positive cases exceeding 10 per 100,000 residents.

The city’s rate has been steady and declining at below 3% for two months now even as numbers have been rising across the Sun Belt and Midwest.

“The national outlook is not encouraging to say the least,” de Blasio said. “We need to do what we’ve been doing and do it consistently.”

About 20% of all new cases in New York City are from people who arrive from out of state, said Dr. Ted Long, who oversees the city’s contact tracing program.

Officials offered scant details about the checkpoints, including where and when they might operate and how widespread they will be.

The city sheriff said most of the traffic stops would be done on a randomized basis, perhaps stopping one in every six or eight cars. He said the stops would not target out-of-state drivers because the law also applies to New Yorkers who travel to one of the states on the list.

He also suggested that no more than 20 officers might be enforcing the checkpoints citywide at any given time, a total that would likely make them less visible and widespread than the mayor implied.

De Blasio stressed that travelers’ civil liberties would be respected and the main purpose of the checkpoints would be to enforce and give information about the quarantine requirements, along with assistance to those who need it.

Hizzoner praised the city’s response to Tropical Storm Isaias, calling the fast-moving storm “one of the most significant weather events since [Hurricane] Sandy.”

One Queens resident died from a falling tree and a Brooklyn resident was seriously injured. Some 70,000 New Yorkers lost power in the storm, although most of the lights were back on by morning.

Isaias raced through the five boroughs packing wind gusts of up to 78 mph, sparking 100 911 calls a minute at its peak, he said.

“Job One is cleaning up in the safest and most effective way possible,” de Blasio said.

Hizzoner dodged questions about the abrupt resignation of Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot a day earlier.

The city’s former top doc blasted de Blasio on Tuesday for bungling the city’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, saying she is “deeply disappointed” in his performance.

De Blasio implied that Barbot would have been fired if she did not quit amid major disagreements. But he refused to discuss the clashes or what Barbot may have done to irk him.

“Sometimes things don’t work out,” he said. just