NJ is a COVID hotspot again but its airport contact-tracing isn't keeping up with NY, passengers say

When Victor Padro traveled home from Texas for a work trip, he was greeted by New York health representatives a few steps after deboarding the plane that landed at LaGuardia Airport.

He was stopped, handed a pen and a form for COVID-19 contact tracing, including flight information, contact numbers, email and where he was headed to begin a 14-day quarantine.

Padro said a fellow passenger who walked away without the form got tracked down to come back and fill it out after being warned about a possible fine.

"Two days later, I get a call an actual phone call, from a New York State contact tracer. They want to ask all these questions: where have you been, and it was kind of interesting because they were asking about symptoms, telling me I should check my temperature every day and then record it in case they ask for it," the paralegal said.

This was followed by periodic calls and texts about whether symptoms arose and a countdown to the end of his quarantine.

"I kind of enjoyed it," he said about complying with New York's post-flight contact tracing protocol.

New York's contact tracing diligence at airports appears to be more aggressive than New Jersey's more voluntary request for participation four months after the two states jointly announced their "hot spot" quarantine strategy for travelers from states with high numbers.

The situation has become more urgent.

New Jersey qualified as a "hot spot" by its own definition as its numbers have recently steadily risen with 1,477 new infection cases and 1,072 hospitalizations reported Thursday — numbers that have not been this high since late spring and early summer.

More: 'It is here and we are ready': NJ has stockpiled PPE in preparation for COVID second wave

Two states, different airports and their contact tracing

Padro recognized the difference between the two states after talking to colleagues who returned from the same trip, but landed at Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey.

There, passengers are asked to voluntarily fill out an online form, though some have reported not being told about it when landing at the nation's 12th busiest airport (pre-pandemic) or receiving follow-up from contact tracers if they did.

"It was just night and day in the two states that’s supposed to be together on this," Padro said.

Others on social media offered similar assessments of New Jersey's protocol.

"I know people who flew into Newark from Puerto Rico and then drove into NY," Annette Caraballo wrote on Twitter earlier this month.

"They were not given a health form to sign at Newark airport. No tracking/tracing. This is part of why (numbers) are going up. Please do better."

Infection rates on the rise

New Jersey had a positivity rate of 3.77% compared to New York at 1.39%, the second lowest in the nation, according to Johns Hopkins University research using a seven-day rolling average released Wednesday.

The idea behind the strategy announced in June — which required visitors from states that had test rates higher than 10 positive cases per 100,000 residents or a positivity rate over 10% to isolate for 14 days — was to keep infection rates low after sweeping efforts in the tri-state area batted down infections after being one of the nation's hardest-hit areas in the spring.

And a key piece of the plan was to aggressively encourage those who did visit to quarantine and require them to fill out forms so health officials can follow up to see if they are doing so or contract the virus.

"This whole concept of states quarantining other states is novel to say the least," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Oct. 21. "I don't think it has happened in the past 100 years. The way we basically enforce the quarantine is at airports when people fly in, because normally you fly in from another state."

New York has threatened fines of $2,000 for any air traveler arriving from a quarantine state, which currently stands at about 40 of them, who fails to fill out a form with their local contact and travel information before leaving the airport.

New Jersey's website, on the other hand, says the travel advisory is "voluntary" but "compliance is expected."

More: California added to New York travel quarantine list, but Massachusetts is spared

More: NY, NJ, CT order out-of-state travelers to quarantine because of COVID-19

A more volunteer effort in New Jersey

I's unclear how much is being done in New Jersey.

A reporter from The Record was not called on to address questions about the contact tracing effort at Newark airport at the governor's virtual press conference Thursday.

A follow-up email sent to four spokespeople in the governor's office was not answered.

When asked about the efforts at the airport in July, Murphy said, "We want to appeal to people’s personal responsibility to do the right thing," and said he did not want to resort to fines for those who don't follow the rules.

Carol Skiba, who opted not to travel on the same work trip as her colleague Padro because her husband has a health condition, said her decision not to go was reinforced by the disparity of contact tracing experienced by her coworkers.

"Gov. Murphy calling people knuckleheads about not doing things initially really makes me question who really is the biggest knucklehead, is it him?" Skiba said.

"It’s very impressive that Governor Cuomo has instilled these regulations, while it may inconvenience someone it’s a much more proactive approach than in our state … our state has to wonder why the numbers are going up."

Meanwhile, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey announced this week it would begin fining travelers $50 in its facilities — which includes JFK, LaGuardia and Newark airports — if they don't comply with the mandatory mask policy.

At those three airports, whose passenger foot traffic is down 77% compared to this time last year, the bi-state agency is also offering coronavirus tests for travelers and employees.

When asked about how it would enforce the mask policy, executive director Rick Cotton said the Port Authority Police Department will take on that responsibility, but hopes that it is a last resort as most people already wear masks at the airports and on PATH trains.

"By making individuals who are not wearing masks subject to a $50 fine, we are emphasizing the criticality of complying with the mask mandate. We’re still going to put a very, very heavy reliance on achieving voluntary compliance," Cotton said.

"But we believe in terms of the enforcement effort that it was important to the public, to the people who use our facilities, that this is at the heart of stopping the spread of coronavirus."

More: Commuting has gotten worse since Christie killed ARC 10 years ago. Will Gateway move forward?

More: Cash toll collection coming back to GW Bridge, Lincoln Tunnel (not Holland) on Monday

Colleen Wilson covers the Port Authority and NJ Transit for NorthJersey.com. For unlimited access to her work covering the region’s transportation systems and how they affect your commute, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

Email: cwilson2@lohud.com Twitter: @colleenallreds

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Newark Liberty International Airport lags behind NY in contact tracing