Sheriffs refuse to follow Cuomo's order to quarantine on Thanksgiving

At least four sheriffs in New York have announced that they will not enforce the limit on private gatherings on Thanksgiving Day. They explain this decision by the fact that they do not have enough resources for checks, and that they do not consider such checks to be appropriate. The edition writes about it New York Post.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has imposed new restrictions in an attempt to slow the spread of the coronavirus in the state, while the total number of people infected in the country has exceeded 11 million.

Among these restrictions is a ban on meetings at home - now no more than 10 people can participate in them (until recently, this number was 50 people). This disrupts the plans of many families for Thanksgiving, on this holiday in the United States it is customary to gather with all relatives, which can include dozens of people.

As a result, at least four New York State sheriffs have announced that they will not monitor residents' compliance with the restrictions on private gatherings on Thanksgiving Day.

For example, on November 14, Fulton County Sheriff Richard Giardino posted a post on his Facebook page in which he questioned the legality of this restriction. “To be honest, I'm not sure if this can stand up to an appeal in court for several reasons, including the fact that your home is your fortress,” the sheriff wrote in a post on Saturday. "And as a sheriff with a college degree in law, I could not justify such enforcement in court, so I will not apply it."

In addition, Giardino noted that his office has few legal opportunities to enter private homes and check the number of people there. The right to enter a person's home in the United States is given by a search warrant, invitation, or emergency.

“We have limited resources and we have to prioritize, so getting a search warrant to go into a house and see how many tofu or turkey eaters are there is not a priority,” Giardino wrote.

Washington County Sheriff Jeff Murphy also announced that he would waive the limit on private gatherings on Thanksgiving Day.

And on Monday, November 16, Saratoga County Sheriff Michael Zurlo also joined the announcement.

“I can't imagine spending our resources on counting citizens' cars in driveways or investigating how many servings of turkey and sauces they bought,” Zurlo said.

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Last Friday, two days after Cuomo announced the new restrictions, Erie County Sheriff Tim Howard said his office would ignore the requirement.

“We encourage everyone to act intelligently and responsibly. We know it makes people unhappy, but it’s better to be unhappy than sick, ”commented Richard Azzopardi, senior adviser to Cuomo.

As a reminder, from November 13 New York introduced a partial lockdown due to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic continues to gain momentum not only in New York State, but throughout the country.

First of all, the new restrictions apply to bars and restaurants. Establishments can now work until 22:00 every evening, and from 22:00 to 5:00 they are only allowed to prepare food to go.

Bowling alleys and other entertainment venues are also required to close at 22:00. The curfew also applies to gyms and fitness centers.

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In addition, closed meetings in private homes are limited to 10 participants instead of 50 as previously allowed.

According to the governor, these are necessary measures in order to try to stop the spread of the virus. Cuomo explained that the restrictions are advisable, since most often people get infected in restaurants, bars, gyms and at home parties.