Tenant Who Violated COVID Quarantine Order Fined $1,000

DOHMH issued a violation notice to tenant for failing to comply with a Commissioner's order of a travel advisory that required quarantine. The Jan. 4, 2021, order required tenant to quarantine until Jan. 26, 2021. A Health Dept. canvasser found no one present at tenant's apartment on Jan. 23, 2021, the address where tenant was required to remain during his quarantine period.

At a July 2021 hearing, tenant appeared at a telephone hearing and said he believed the quarantine guidelines allowed him to leave his apartment for groceries, medical supplies, and to exercise. He went out three times on Jan. 23 to retrieve groceries and for a morning and evening walk. Each time he wore a mask and followed appropriate social distancing guidelines. He also claimed that he was a full-time student who worked in a room at home where he couldn't hear the door, and was either working, napping, or in the shower when the canvasser visited the building.

The canvasser visited the unit at 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m., stating there was no answer either time. But tenant's reasons for leaving the apartment didn't fit into any of the four exceptions for going out set forth in the Commissioner's order. These were to obtain necessary medical care, for first responders, essential workers, or members of a professional sports team in certain circumstances. He also didn't qualify for the "test out" option for a shortened quarantine period.

The ALJ fined tenant $1,000. Tenant appealed and lost. Health Code Section 3.05(a) stated that no person shall violate a DOHMH order. 

DOHMH v. Elbedeiwy: ECB App. No. 2101360 (11/18/21)[2-pg. document]