With cold weather bearing down on New England and folks poised to pursue winter outdoor activities, we thought it would be helpful to look at the current list of Covid-related travel restrictions being imposed by each state in the region. Bottom line: Be prepared to be tested for Covid prior to entering a different state or quarantining once you get there. Either way, it’s gonna be a different kind of winter for sure.
Massachusetts
All visitors entering Massachusetts, including residents returning from a different state, who do not meet an exemption, are required to:
If the COVID-19 test result has not been received prior to arrival, visitors and residents must quarantine until they receive a negative test result.
Failure to comply may result in a $500 fine per day.
Vermont
The Vermont Health Department strongly advises against non-essential travel, even within Vermont. All travel to and from Vermont requires quarantine. The only exception is essential travel.
Anyone entering the state of Vermont (including residents) must quarantine for 14 days. The State of Vermont has suspended its leisure travel map and implemented a mandatory quarantine for anyone returning or traveling to Vermont.
New Hampshire
Travelers/visitors to New Hampshire (including residents) are required to self-quarantine for 10 days following the last date of any high-risk travel, which includes travel internationally (including to/from Canada); on a cruise ship; or domestically outside of Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, or Rhode Island for non-essential purposes.
People meeting the criteria for high-risk travel have the option of ending their quarantine after day 7 by getting a test on day 6-7 of their quarantine to test for active SARS-CoV-2 infection (SARS-CoV-2 is the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19); this test must be a molecular test (e.g., PCR-based test), as antigen tests are not accepted for this purpose. If the test is obtained on day 6-7 of quarantine, the person is asymptomatic, and the test is negative, then the person can end their quarantine after 7 days, but they must still self-observe for symptoms of COVID-19 and strictly adhere to COVID-19 mitigation measures (social distancing, avoiding social gatherings, wearing a face mask, practicing frequent hand hygiene, etc.) for a full 14 days after their last day of travel. Any new symptoms of COVID-19 should prompt the person to isolate and seek testing again (even if the person recently tested out of quarantine). This 7-day quarantine “test out” option only applies to travel-related quarantine (not quarantine due to a high-risk close contact exposure to a person with COVID-19).
Maine
Visitors to Maine must either receive a recent (with 72 hours) negative COVID-19 test result before entering Maine, or quarantine for 14 days upon arrival in Maine.
Exemption from the testing or quarantine requirements is extended to residents of New Hampshire and Vermont.
Residents of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey are no longer exempt from the requirements.
Rhode Island
Anyone traveling to Rhode Island from a state with a COVID-19 positivity rate higher than 5% must quarantine for 14 days and self-monitor for symptoms. Alternately, travelers may provide proof of a negative result from a COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours prior to arrival.
Connecticut
Anyone traveling to Connecticut from a state, other than New York, New Jersey, or Rhode Island, with a positive case rate higher than 10 per 100,000 residents, or higher than a 10% test positivity rate over a 7-day rolling average, or from a country for which the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice, are directed to self-quarantine for a 14-day period from the time of last contact within the identified state or country. Anyone entering from one of the identified states must also fill out a travel health form upon arrival. Travelers can fill out the form online at ct.gov/travelform.
