Ogden Newspapers

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — While the nation navigates its way through stay-at-home orders and social distancing guidelines, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York and Rhode Island have gone a step further by imposing limitations on what out-of-state residents can purchase in their states, and whether such residents should be forced to self-quarantine when entering those states’ borders.

The latest situation began Saturday and continued this week, when county health officers in three West Virginia counties — Monongalia, Brooke and Hancock — ordered that liquor stores in those counties could only sell to state residents. This became an issue after Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf ordered liquor stores in his state to close.

This has led, in recent weeks, to some Pennsylvania residents traveling to West Virginia for their purchases. All three West Virginia counties border Pennsylvania, with Brooke and Hancock counties being about a half-hour drive from Pittsburgh.

In order to keep numbers of COVID-19 cases down in West Virginia, the Monongalia County Health Department on Saturday issued a public health order to control the sale of liquor, including banning sales to anyone without a West Virginia-issued driver’s license or state identification.

Dr. Lee B. Smith, executive director of the Monongalia County Health Department and also that county’s health officer, said the quick access to West Virginia from Pennsylvania allows for residents of both states to travel back and forth effortlessly.

“Our (positive COVID-19) numbers are starting to increase exponentially,” Smith said Monday. “If you add up all the diagnosed cases from our region, we have 88.”

What was done in West Virginia with selling liquor stands for now but may ultimately be declared unconstitutional, West Virginia University constitutional law professor Robert Bastress told West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

“The current situation allows the state to do things it might not be able to do in normal circumstances,” Bastress told Public Broadcasting.

Liquor sales are but one aspect of this crisis.

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, during an epidemic, the federal government is authorized to take action to prevent the entry of communicable diseases and use quarantine and isolation at U.S. ports of entry. The federal government also can take measures against the spread of disease between states.

State and local governments and tribal authorities can only impose and enforce isolation and quarantine within their borders, according to the CDC.

The CDC also can issue a federal isolation or quarantine order, which empowers public health officials at all levels to seek assistance from law enforcement to enforce a public health order. Breaking a federal order is punishable by fines and imprisonment.

The last federal quarantine was during the 1918 Spanish Flu. However, with COVID-19 some states have issued their own stay-at-home orders. As of April 1, all counties in Pennsylvania are under such an order.

“This is the most prudent option to stop the spread of COVID-19 across our commonwealth, where cases continue to grow daily,” Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said in a prepared statement. “We appreciate the shared sacrifice of all 12.8 million Pennsylvanians; we are in this together and this statewide stay-at-home order is being made after many discussions with multiple state agencies, Dr. (Rachel) Levine, and state, county and local officials as we continue to monitor the most effective ways to save lives and stop the spread of COVID-19.”

The stay-at-home order in Pennsylvania has led to at least one citation, as published reports indicate authorities cited a 19-year-old woman in York County, Pennsylvania, for violating the governor’s stay-at-home order. Anita Shaffer was going for a drive when she was stopped by state troopers. The citation will cost Shaffer at least $200, and it’s a charge to which she plans to plead not guilty, according to reports.

Other states have taken different routes with controlling COVID-19.

Although West Virginia was the last state to report a positive case of COVID-19, its governor, Jim Justice, ordered anyone coming into West Virginia from a high-risk COVID-19 state or country to self-quarantine for 14 days after arrival. Justice also authorized the West Virginia State Police to monitor state roads and highways to enforce that order, though he said troopers would not be stopping vehicles with out-of-state plates at this time.

“For those who are crossing our state lines conducting interstate commerce, or commuting for work or essential business, military duty or health and medical care reasons, we don’t want to impede you,” he said. “This is aimed at people from Louisiana, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Italy or China, and other places where COVID-19 has spread substantially. We have to do everything we can to protect our citizens and these folks have got to self-isolate if they are going to come here.”

The American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia has said the order from Justice is unclear, vague and may override Fourth Amendment protections from unreasonable search and seizure.

“The executive order threatens jail time for violation of the order when accompanied by an attempt to obstruct an officer enforcing it,” the state’s ACLU chapter said in a statement. “Incarcerating someone the state believes may be a danger of spreading COVID-19 only puts other inmates, guards and jail staff in jeopardy. Custodial arrests should be prohibited unless absolutely necessary to prevent imminent and serious bodily harm to another person and only after all non-incarceration alternatives have been exhausted.”

West Virginia’s next step could follow in the footsteps of Rhode Island, where police have been conducting traffic stops on drivers with out-of-state plates. The state is collecting contact information and informing those drivers of a mandatory, 14-day quarantine period if they are staying in Rhode Island.

In New York, with the nation’s highest number of cases and deaths , Gov. Andrew Cuomo has extended his “New York State on PAUSE” through April 29.

“I know that’s a negative for many, many reasons. I know what it does to the economy, but as I said from day one, I am not going to choose between public health and economic activity,” Cuomo said. “If we are plateauing, we are plateauing at a high level. We have to continue the social distancing. … There is a real danger in getting overconfident too quickly. This is an enemy that we have underestimated from day one and we have paid the price dearly.”

Cuomo also announced this week he is increasing fines for violations of social distancing to $1,000. The fine previously had been $250.

Those in the state of New York are only allowed to leave home for essential items such as grocery shopping or going to the pharmacy.