Rhode Island added to Massachusetts travel order, fine in play

According to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, effective Friday, August 7, Rhode Island is no longer listed as a lower-risk state and is subject to Governor Baker’s travel order.

According to MDPH, the decision was made due to increases in both RI’s positive test rate and cases per 100,000.

The following is from the Massachusetts Department of Health.

All individuals entering Massachusetts after 12:01 a.m. on August 1, 2020 who are over the age of 18 or an unaccompanied minor must complete and submit the on-line Massachusetts Travel Form unless the individual meets an exemption below:

Lower-risk State: This includes individuals coming from a COVID-19 lower-risk state within the United States.

Transitory travel: This includes people who are passing through Massachusetts and permits travelers to drive through the State or to connect to their airplane, bus or train, or to stop at a highway rest stop, but this exception extends only so long as is reasonably required for the traveler to complete their transit, make any necessary airplane, bus, or train connection, or make use of travel services such as at a highway rest stop.

Persons Commuting for Work or School: People who regularly commute, at least weekly, outside of Massachusetts to a fixed place to attend school or work or any person who regularly commutes, at least weekly into Massachusetts to a fixed place to attend school or work; provided that in either case, this exception applies only to and from the person’s residence and place of work or school. Workers or students who travel to any place that is not their home state for personal or leisure reasons cannot rely on this exemption.

Patients Seeking or Receiving Medical Treatment: Patients who are traveling to Massachusetts to seek or receive specialized medical care from a physician located in the Commonwealth and persons accompanying and providing needed support to the patient.

Military Personnel: Any person who is required to travel to Massachusetts at the order or directive of a Federal or State military authority.

Workers Providing Critical Infrastructure Services: Workers who enter Massachusetts to perform critical infrastructure functions as specified in Version 3.1 of the listing published by the Federal Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency are exempt from quarantine while they are commuting to or from or while at work. For the first 14-days after arrival, when the worker is not at work or commuting to work they must quarantine. Additional information may be found here: https://www.cisa.gov/publication/guidance-essential-critical-infrastructure-workforce. Workers who travel to or from Massachusetts for personal or leisure reasons cannot rely on this exemption.

If you do not meet one of the exemptions above, you must complete and submit the online Massachusetts Travel Form.

Failure to submit a completed Massachusetts Travel Form, when required, or failure to comply with the quarantine requirement, if applicable, may result in a $500 fine per day.

If you do not quarantine for 14 days, you must produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts.

Travelers from COVID-19 lower-risk States are not required to fill out the Massachusetts Travel Form and do not need to quarantine. States are included on the list based on meeting two criteria: average daily cases per 100K below 6 AND positive test rate below 5%, both measured as a 7-day rolling average. Data is from covidexitstrategy.org as of July 21, 2020.