Cuomo: Fine Local Governments Over Coronavirus Hot Spots

New York state will begin fining local governments who do not enforce compliance with pandemic protocols that are mandated by executive order, such as social distancing, limiting large gatherings and wearing masks, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a hastily called news conference Friday morning.

The fines would be levied if the state health department finds local governments have not done an adequate job, Cuomo said. The fine could reach $10,000 a day for every day compliance is not enforced to the health department's satisfaction.

The state Commissioner of Health will send an order to hot spot local governments Friday, he said, establishing a framework for reporting their enforcement activities and setting specific consequences for failure to enforce the State Department of Health Emergency Regulations and the Governor's Executive Orders related to social distancing, mask compliance, and capacity limitations.

He said the clusters in Orange and Rockland counties and in New York City continue to grow. "The hot spots are a significant problem," he said.

The hot spots are connected to large ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities. Cuomo said he talked to religious and community leaders in those communities. They acknowledged a lack of compliance, said they were trying to educate their communities, but said enforcement was up to the government.

However, county officials in Rockland and Orange say the state's executive orders about enforcement prevent them from authority to write summonses.

In Rockland, the agency with that authority in the hot-spot ZIP codes are the Ramapo Police Department and the Spring Valley Police Department. In Orange County, the town of Palm Tree is policed by the New York State Police.

County officials want the governor to revoke his executive order forbidding counties from issuing their own executive orders. Being able to enforce compliance through executive orders is what helped Rockland fight its measles outbreak.

The positivity rate for coronavirus tests is about 1 percent in New York, Cuomo said. The Hudson Valley region has a 2.6 percent positivity rate, he said, "that's Orange and Rockland."