Well, it looks like New York government has had enough of its residents bending the social distancing rules.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said on Sunday that New York City residents who break social distancing rules will be subject to fines fines of $250 to $500.
He has authorized police officers fine residents who are ordered to disperse but fail to do so.
“I don’t want to fine people when so many folks are going through economic distress,” the mayor said. “But if they haven’t gotten the message by now, and they don’t get the message when an enforcement officer’s staring them in the face … that person then deserves the fine, so we’re going to proceed with that.”
As of March 30, the death toll is at 1,218 people in New York State, up from 965 Sunday morning, according to Gov. Andrew Cuomo during a press briefing at the Javitz Center on Monday, and he said the worst is yet to come.
New York has tested more than 186,000 people in the month of March alone. But that constitutes about one percent of the state’s population.
De Blasio also announced that NYPD and MTA workers would do checks of subway cars and force riders off cars that are too crowded.
“You’ve been warned and warned and warned again,” the mayor said during a Sunday press conference.
“They’re going to give people every chance to listen, and if anyone doesn’t listen, then they deserve a fine at this point,” de Blasio said.