If a New York health official places you under an isolation or quarantine order, you keep a specific set of legal protections: written notice of why you are being confined, the right to a lawyer, the right to necessary medical care and communication with family, and the right to ask a court to review the order. Your rights under a New York isolation or quarantine order come from the state Public Health Law, the state Sanitary Code, and constitutional due process, and they apply whether the directive comes from a local health officer or the state Commissioner of Health.
Local boards of health and health officers draw their confinement authority from Public Health Law § 2100, which lets them arrange for the care and isolation of people with communicable diseases when necessary to protect the public.1New York State Senate. New York Public Health Law 2100 – Communicable Diseases; Local Boards of Health and Health Officers; Powers and Duties Officials almost always ask for voluntary compliance first. If that fails, they issue a written order, and only as a last resort do they seek a court order to compel confinement in a facility. Any confinement is supposed to use the least restrictive means that will prevent the disease from spreading.
What a Valid Order Must Tell You
Neither the Public Health Law nor the Sanitary Code lists the exact contents of an isolation or quarantine order, but the State Commissioner of Health has directed local health authorities to include specific information in every one. According to that guidance, each order must state the reasons for confinement, explain why less restrictive alternatives are not appropriate, describe the conditions of isolation or quarantine, and inform you of your right to contact a lawyer, your right to administrative review, and your right to seek court review.2NY Courts. Public Health Legal Manual These requirements flow from constitutional due process rather than a specific statute, but they apply across the state.
If an order you receive is missing any of these elements, that is a problem you can raise on review. Keep the paperwork. Note the date and time it was served and the name and title of the person who served it.
Medical Care, Contact, and Privacy
You do not lose access to healthcare while confined. People under an isolation order retain the right to necessary medical treatment, prescription medications, and mental health support, and health officials must account for pre-existing medical conditions. You also keep the right to communicate with family members and to consult with a lawyer. Confinement that cuts you off from legal counsel or basic medical care is the kind of thing courts take seriously when reviewing these orders.
Your health information is still covered by HIPAA, but with a notable exception. Healthcare providers may disclose your protected health information to a public health authority without your permission when the disclosure is needed to prevent or control disease, and may notify someone who may have been exposed to a communicable disease if authorized by law.3eCFR. 45 CFR 164.512 – Uses and Disclosures for Which an Authorization or Opportunity to Agree or Object Is Not Required Outside those public health purposes, the usual HIPAA protections stay in place.
Your Job and Your Paycheck
Losing income is the first worry for most people served with one of these orders. New York’s general paid sick leave law, Labor Law § 196-b, requires employers to provide sick leave based on size:
- Employers with 100 or more employees: up to 56 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year.
- Employers with 5 to 99 employees: up to 40 hours of paid sick leave per calendar year.
- Employers with 4 or fewer employees: up to 40 hours of unpaid sick leave, or paid if the employer’s net income exceeds $1 million.
Sick leave under this statute can be used for a mental or physical illness, injury, or health condition affecting you or a family member, and for diagnosis, treatment, or preventive care.4New York State Senate. New York Labor Law 196-B – Sick Leave Requirements The statute does not specifically name quarantine orders as a covered reason, but illness and preventive care likely cover most scenarios where someone is under a health department directive.
New York previously had a separate COVID-19 emergency paid sick leave law that provided broader job-protected leave for individuals under mandatory quarantine orders. That law expired on July 31, 2025, so it no longer applies. For 2026, the general paid sick leave statute is the primary state-level protection.
The NY HERO Act, signed in 2021, remains in effect and requires employers to maintain airborne infectious disease exposure prevention plans that can be activated during a declared outbreak.5New York Department of Labor. NY HERO Act When activated, those plans must address health screenings, personal protective equipment, and workplace controls. Employers who force exposed employees to report to work in violation of a quarantine directive risk fines and legal action under both public health law and labor law.
Federal unpaid leave is a weaker backstop here. The Family and Medical Leave Act provides up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for eligible employees with a serious health condition, but whether a quarantine order for someone who is not yet symptomatic qualifies is not settled. The statute generally requires incapacity plus continuing treatment by a healthcare provider, which an asymptomatic quarantine may not satisfy.6U.S. Department of Labor. Fact Sheet 28P – Taking Leave from Work When You or Your Family Member Has a Serious Health Condition under the FMLA If you develop symptoms or need medical treatment, FMLA coverage is easier to establish.
How to Challenge a State Order in Court
New York law explicitly preserves the right to contest a quarantine or isolation commitment. Public Health Law § 2124 states that nothing in Article 21 prevents a person committed to an institution from appealing to any court with jurisdiction for a review of the evidence behind the commitment.7New York State Senate. New York Public Health Law 2124 – Communicable Diseases; Appeal by Committed Patient
There are two main procedural routes. The most common is a writ of habeas corpus filed in the Supreme Court of the judicial district where you are being detained. Under CPLR § 7002, anyone “illegally imprisoned or otherwise restrained in his liberty” can petition the court to examine the basis for their confinement.2NY Courts. Public Health Legal Manual You can also bring an Article 78 proceeding to challenge the administrative order itself. In either case the court evaluates whether health authorities had sufficient grounds, often hearing testimony from medical professionals. If the order is found to be excessive or unsupported by the evidence, the court can modify or overturn it.
Separately, if a health officer brings you before a magistrate for a commitment hearing under PHL § 2120 after a physician reports you as a danger to others, that proceeding is itself an opportunity to be heard and to be represented.8New York State Senate. New York Public Health Law 2120 – Communicable Diseases; Control of Dangerous and Careless Patients; Commitment
If the Order Is Federal, Not State
Not every quarantine in New York is a state matter. The CDC has independent authority at airports and seaports under the Public Health Service Act, 42 U.S.C. § 264, and can order quarantine, isolation, or conditional release for anyone reasonably believed to be infected with a quarantinable communicable disease who is traveling between states or who could infect interstate travelers.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 42 USC 264 – Regulations to Control Communicable Diseases A person under a federal order cannot travel between states without a written travel permit from the CDC Director.
The federal review process has its own timing rules. The CDC must issue a written order within 72 hours of detaining you, explaining the factual basis for the quarantine. No later than 72 hours after serving that written order, the CDC Director must reassess whether the quarantine is still necessary, including whether less restrictive measures would work. The written order must inform you of your right to request a medical review, to present witnesses and testimony, and to be represented by an advocate at your own expense, or at the government’s expense if you cannot afford one.10eCFR. 42 CFR Part 70 – Interstate Quarantine If the order stays in place after the medical review, you can appeal in federal court.
Penalties for Ignoring an Order
Simply disregarding an order carries real consequences, which is worth understanding before deciding how to respond. Public Health Law § 12 sets the civil penalty for violating any provision of the public health law, including isolation and quarantine orders, at up to $2,000 per violation.11New York State Senate. New York Public Health Law 12 Before April 2026, the statute included escalated tiers up to $5,000 and $10,000 for repeat or harm-causing violations. Those tiered penalties were eliminated effective April 1, 2026, leaving the flat $2,000-per-violation cap as the sole civil penalty.
Criminal charges are also possible. Someone who knowingly exposes others to a contagious disease in violation of a health order could face reckless endangerment under Penal Law § 120.20, a Class A misdemeanor,12New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 120.20 – Reckless Endangerment in the Second Degree which carries a maximum jail sentence of 364 days.13New York State Senate. New York Penal Law 70.15
Federal penalties are far steeper. Under 42 CFR § 70.18, an individual who violates federal interstate quarantine rules faces fines of up to $100,000 and up to one year in jail if no death results. If a violation leads to a death, the maximum fine jumps to $250,000. Organizations face fines up to $200,000 per event, or $500,000 per event if a death results.14eCFR. 42 CFR 70.18 – Penalties
The practical path, if you believe an order against you is wrong, is to comply while you contest it: request the written order, ask for counsel, and file for review. Those steps protect your rights without exposing you to the penalties that come with simply walking away.