Updated at 12:45 p.m.
Gov. Charlie Baker Friday established a new mandatory 14-day quarantine for travelers arriving in Massachusetts or returning to the state from anywhere except lower risk states, including $500-per-day fines for people who do not comply.
The new order, effective Aug. 1, is the first time Baker has created an enforcement mechanism for long-standing traveler quarantine requirements.
The governor said lower risk states are designated by the Department of Public Health and currently include the rest of New England, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii. The order applies to all visitors and residents, including students.
Massachusetts has released a new form that travelers to the commonwealth must fill out confirming either that they will quarantine or that they have received a negative COVID test result in the past 72 hours.
“Travelers will not be required to quarantine after they receive a negative test result after they arrive in Massachusetts,” Baker said.
Baker said he is generally expecting travelers to self-enforce the quarantine order, but local boards of health and contact tracers will be ensuring that people who fill out the form do, in fact, comply with the quarantine. So far, he said, people in Massachusetts have generally complied with public health orders without penalties.
Baker acknowledged that the order still largely relies on the honor system for compliance, but “the honor system in Massachusetts has worked pretty well,” he said. Once the state has made clear what the rules are, “the vast majority of people will play by the rules.”
Nevertheless, Baker said that if a resident suspects someone is violating the quarantine order, they can report their concerns to the Department of Public Health or to their local board of health, or they can call 2-1-1.
Visitors arriving by train, bus or airplane will receive instructions on how to report their arrival and how to quarantine, Baker said, and hotels and other lodging operators will be required to inform guests of the quarantine rules when they book their accommodations and when they check in. For drivers coming from outside the state, “we’re not going to be stopping cars, but we are going to expect people to comply,” he said.
The order includes only three narrow exemptions: Military personnel; patients arriving for specialized medical care and their assistants; and workers engaged in critical infrastructure projects. People who commute regularly from home to work across state lines can also be exempted, and the order allows visitors to leave the state before their 14-day quarantine period expires.
“COVID is not taking the summer off and we haven’t either,” Baker said. “Every traveler coming to Massachusetts, no matter where they’re from, has a responsibility to help keep COVID-19 out of the commonwealth.”
