Connecticut Fines 2 Residents $1,000 Each For Violating Travel Advisory

Two people who failed to observe Connecticut’s travel advisory have been fined $1,000 each, Gov. Ned Lamont said in his Monday coronavirus briefing. The fines were the first issued by the Connecticut Department of Public Health since the state issued the travel order.

Under the state’s coronavirus travel advisory order, residents that return to Connecticut from states with high COVID-19 infection rates of 10% or higher over a seven-day rolling average or have new daily positive test rates higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, need to fill out a health form and quarantine for 14 days.

Lamont said neither of the two people filed out a health form after flying back to Connecticut from Louisiana and Florida. One of the people also refused to quarantine for the required 14 days and was fined an additional $1,000.

“Look, I hate to do it, but we’re going to be serious and show people we’re serious about this,” Lamont said during his coronavirus briefing on Monday. “Overwhelmingly, people are doing the right thing. For those few of you who aren’t, please be on notice.”

State officials were notified of the travel order violations from one of the individual’s coworkers while the other was revealed through a tip to officials. The individuals were from Windham County and Hartford County.

Josh Geballe, Lamont’s chief operating officer, said that there are additional investigations underway concerning other people that have violated the travel advisory.

“This is for real. We need people to follow these rules. We need people to comply. This is one of the riskiest areas for the state of Connecticut right now as people travel into this state, bringing the virus with them,” he said.

“We need you to fill out the form. You need to quarantine. And we expect you to do that. If not, there will be consequences, Geballe added.

Connecticut has over 50,500 positive cases of the coronavirus and over 4,400 COVID-19 deaths, according to the state’s website.