Jujupilote wrote:
I have a question for our US friends here : where in the US can you be fined for being out of home for a non essential reason (like going to the airport) ? It is very state dependant I guess.
Theoretically, yes in all but I think two states – most state governors have put states of emergency in place. In reality, highly unlikely almost everywhere unless there is a very clear situation like a group gathering in a closed city park. That would be unusual enough to make the local news. The net effect is people are in general staying close to home but not because of any real chance of a legal issue. Restaurants and non-essential businesses are closed, there is much less reason to be out and about, but last weekend there was no lack of people at the airport, and I have (once) been in stop and go traffic on the highway during normal commuting time.
In my state specifically, the governor when announcing his ‘directive’ also made it completely clear that he was not asking local police for enforcement. The legal basis for enforcement of the directive is not entirely clear, something completely obvious to the police, and it’s not something he wanted to debate in real time. I think the intent was to pressure and cajole people into staying home for the most part, without introducing too much risk of legal battles with armed riots to follow etc, at least in the short term. There is such a thing as overreaching your power.
I note that all the restrictions are by governments.
My memory of UK infectious disease restrictions in the 60s was that they were imposed by local authority Medical Officers. Neighbouring authorities acted in agreement.
Jujupilote wrote:
I have a question for our US friends here : where in the US can you be fined for being out of home for a non essential reason (like going to the airport) ? It is very state dependant I guess.
It does happen. It is state by state dependent. Some states are much more restrictive than others. There have been reports of people getting $500 fines for playing in an empty park. Didnt pay attention to the state. Then there was a mass where everyone stayed in their cars to listen to the Preacher. The cops came and issued a summons to all that attended. I think there were a dozen cars. The most famous one is the guy paddle boarding in the ocean in Calif when he was corralled by two govt boats and issued a summons.
The states are letting criminals out from jail because they might get infected with the virus. In the mean time the govt is threaten to put people in jail if they dont obey their quarantine rules. That is NYC. I mean this is like living in the Twilight Zone. I do have to say what Ive noticed the most draconian steps have been taken in states whose Governors are from the Democrat (liberal) parties. If you think Im making thei stuff up search it on Duck Duck Go.
Jujupilote wrote:
And why do you think NY state is so contaminated compared to the other states ?
Because of Political Correctness? Like the Italian Mayor who said go hug a Chinese the same thing happened in NYC during the Chinese New Year celebrations. I wonder what the poor fellow who was wearing a mask was thinking when someone without a mask came and hugged him?
The 17th of Feb flew to JFK. Got in 30 mins ahead of schedule but had to remain in the plane due to Immigration congestion. Never heard that before. Upon arriving at the immigration hall there had to be at least 2000 Asians on the non US citizen cue. About 700 on the other side of the room for US citizens. It took 3 hrs for me to clear immigration. All the while a large fan was swiveling back and forth cause it was so hot in there. Now Nippon Airlines uses that terminal. About 50% were wearing masks. Were some Chinese? Who knows. Did Japan have an out break around that time not really. But then again with no data its only a guess. However what I can tell you, it was a really stupid Idea to get rid of the machines to expedite US citizen entry back into the country. That happened because the NY Gov decided in the interest of PC he was going to issue driving licenses to Illegal aliens but not share any data with DHS which runs border control. That is a mess onto itself.
Ok but Im digressing. The NYC subway and mass transit is just that…. mass. Lots of people in very close contact. That is the primary means of transportation for most New Yorkers. Im certain that was a big reason for the spreading of the virus so exponentially.
The states are letting criminals out from jail because they might get infected with the virus. In the mean time the govt is threaten to put people in jail if they dont obey their quarantine rules. That is NYC.
Well, same here 
C210_Flyer wrote:
It took 3 hrs for me to clear immigration.
Ah, because you didn’t pay the $100 or whatever it is for expedited processing. Global Entry they call it. ;-) (do notice the wink, please)
The last two times I’ve been to the US there have been very significant delays in getting people through immigration. One of the times was LAX in August and it took someone literally fainting on the bus they kept us on for them to let people into the terminal building. Once there it was reasonable, but I sincerely hope the people that came up with that bright idea got successfully sued by the person whose life they endangered. On the bright side, at least all were treated equally…
Off_Field wrote:
It appears the democratic strongholds were more interested in combating perceived racism than the health issues of their citizens.
Not really. California – arguably the bluest state of them all – shut down early (a few days before NY) and so far the lockdown seems to work. Current deaths stand at 730 in a population of about 40 million. Contrast that with the UK – 12000 deaths in 66 or so million.
What may well save us here in CA is the much lower population density compared to NYC or London (or indeed pretty much anywhere in Europe). I can only hope that this gives our local ‘leaders’ here in L.A. pause for thought in their push to densify the city.
tmo wrote:
The last two times I’ve been to the US there have been very significant delays in getting people through immigration. One of the times was LAX in August and it took someone literally fainting on the bus they kept us on for them to let people into the terminal building.
Try that with a 14 year old long haired dog some time, one that has just endured 14 hours in a box. BTDT
Smell-A Sux 
I have no idea why European tourists would go there. Its surely true that the LA car culture has protected a lot of people relative to e.g. NY City with its subways and trains, but given the LA Basin population density the rate of infection is still much higher there than other places within hundreds of miles.
Also, California is not a ‘blue’ state by land area. LA and SFO are heavily left leaning, as is often correlated with high population density areas worldwide.
The LAX bus was equally US tourists returning from the EU and EU tourists going to the US. Things have really gone downhill in the ~15 years in which I haven’t made the trip. Can’t speak for the others, but we were visiting friends in the LA area, and couldn’t get a ride EPKP to KBUR for reasonable money…
As I generally say to myself when arriving at LAX (I’ve done it a number of times) “welcome to the ghetto”
I use Global Entry at LAX and am usually through immigration and customs in about 15 mins. I don’t normally travel with checked bags and my personal record was 20 mins from the aircraft door opening to sitting in the Uber to go home. Not too bad, I’d say ;-)
