SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
New York City really wants travelers from high-risk states to isolate for 14 days upon arrival. They've been under an order to do that since June. Workers have intercepted them at airports - told them to register with the state. And now the city's mayor is expanding that enforcement to bridges, tunnels, and rail and bus stations. Fred Mogul of member station WNYC reports.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Attention, please. Amtrak is requiring that...
FRED MOGUL, BYLINE: At Penn Station, emissaries from Mayor Bill de Blasio greet visiting Floridians and New Yorkers returning home as they get off Amtrak's Silver Meteor from Miami.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: So, basically, with the new executive order, you'll have to do a 14-day quarantine. It's to help keep New Yorkers safe.
MOGUL: Some take flyers. Some pause to fill out electronic forms. Many just walk on by, refusing to make eye contact, the way New Yorkers often do.
UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Can you fill out your information on this form for me?
MOGUL: A woman named Gloria Rebas, back from visiting family in West Palm Beach, says she plans to register her two-week quarantine with the city.
GLORIA REBAS: It's our responsibility, you know, to take care of ourselves and take care of others, you know, because of health.
MOGUL: City and state health workers have signed up about 400,000 people. But with tens of thousands arriving daily at the city's two big airports alone, that means many are coming into New York and remaining under the radar, which is why de Blasio now wants to survey as many surface travelers as possible, too.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
BILL DE BLASIO: They will be reminded that it is required, not optional. They'll be reminded that failure to quarantine is a violation of state law, and it comes with...
MOGUL: Authorities make calls, send texts and knock on doors to make sure people are isolating. So far, the state has received 1,700 complaints about possible quarantine violations but hasn't issued any fines. At Penn Station, Harold Cerra says he plans to follow the rules but doesn't need government monitoring.
HAROLD CERRA: Yeah, I just do it on my own. I know what I'm doing. I take precaution.
MOGUL: Cerra is relieved to be back from his long visit with relatives in the Sunshine State. Speaking through a wraparound neck gaiter, he says people down in Florida don't take protecting themselves and their neighbors as seriously as he does. And he's pretty confident he didn't catch anything down there that he's bringing back here. For NPR News in New York, I'm Fred Mogul. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.