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Coronavirus: People traveling to Massachusetts required to quarantine or face fines

By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
By Theresa Seiger, Cox Media Group National Content Desk

BOSTON — Travelers visiting or returning to Massachusetts from out of state will be required to quarantine for 14 days after arriving in the state unless they can show that they’ve tested negative for the novel coronavirus, WFXT reported Friday.

The requirement is part of a travel order issued Friday by Gov. Charlie Baker. It’s set to go into effect Aug. 1, WFXT reported.

"All visitors and Massachusetts residents returning home, including students returning to campuses for the fall semester, must fill out a 'Massachusetts Travel Form' and quarantine for 14 days unless they are coming from a COVID-19 lower-risk state or they can produce a negative COVID-19 test result administered no more than 72 hours prior to arriving in Massachusetts, or they are included in one of the other, limited exemptions," Baker said in the order.

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Officials said that people who fail to comply with the travel order could face a $500 fine for each day that they fail to quarantine.

WFXT reported eight states deemed to be lower risk for COVID-19 were exempt from the order Friday: Connecticut, Hawaii, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. People passing through the state or commuting for work, medical care or to comply with military orders were also exempt.

As of Thursday, the last date for which data was available, more than 107,000 cases of COVID-19 have been reported across Massachusetts, resulting in 8,265 deaths.

The United States leads the world with the most coronavirus cases and the highest death toll. Since the start of the pandemic, officials have confirmed more than 4 million infections and reported more than 144,000 deaths nationwide, according to numbers compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

As of Friday, more than 15.5 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide and more than 634,000 people have died of the viral infection, according to Johns Hopkins.

Cox Media Group

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