Governor Signs Order Requiring Travelers to Isolate 14 Days

BOSTON — Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday signed an executive order requiring anyone entering the commonwealth from any state outside the Northeast to self-quarantine for 14 days or provide proof of a negative test for COVID-19.

The new travel order, outlined on the state's website, carries a $500 per day fine for anyone violating the rule, which goes into effect on Aug. 1.

It applies to any residents of the commonwealth returning to Massachusetts as well as visitors from — for now — 41 states not identified as "lower-risk" states. The lower-risk states currently include the five other New England states plus New York, New Jersey and Hawaii.

That list of lower-risk states is subject to change as data changes with regard to infection rates. The states will be evaluated on two criteria: the "average daily cases per 100K [state residents] below six and positive test rate below 5 percent, both measured as a 7-day rolling average," according to the order.

Baker and Secretary of Transportation Stephanie Pollack said the commonwealth will be posting signage at highways and rest areas as well as in airports, train stations and bus terminals.

"Airbnbs and hotels are going to be expected to inform people when they book a room and when they show up that these are the rules," Baker said.

If a resident suspects someone is not following the rules, he or she can make a report to the local Board of Health or to the commonwealth by dialing 211, Baker said.

Citing the high compliance he has seen around the state with social distancing and face covering guidelines, Baker said he believes the new travel order also will be widely followed.

"If we make it clear to people on the front end and make clear to the airlines and other travel partners … what the rules of the game are, the vast majority of people will play by the rules," he said.

In addition to voluntary self-quarantine, anyone entering the state from outside the Northeast will be required to submit a form with contact information that will allow officials to check in with the recent entrants to confirm they are adhering to the self-quarantine rule, Baker said.

Workers in certain critical industries, like first-responders, will be exempt from the self-quarantine requirement and allowed to leave their residences to go to work.

Baker said there are three reasons why he rolled out the travel order at this time.

"The amount of interstate travel and, to some extent, the amount of international travel going on has gone from very low to low," Baker said. "It's higher now than it was 30 to 60 days ago.

"There are many parts of the U.S. that have seen very significant increases in positive test rates, and positive test rates per capita over the last 30 to 60 days, which has changed the game in the way we think about interstate travel. And the third thing, obviously, is there are a lot of people coming here for vacation and a lot of people coming here because school is starting in the fall."

Baker said his administration has no plans to start stopping cars at the state line to ensure that people entering the state are complying with the order.

At Friday's press availability, the governor and Secretary of Health and Human Services Marylou Sudders discussed apparent anomalies that showed up in the commonwealth's COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday.

Among other things, the state's reporting system Thursday cited a drop of 181 in the number of patients hospitalized for COVID-19 — a decline of 34 percent from the previous day's total of 532.

Sudders blamed "hastily announced federal [reporting] guidelines that just went into effect" and said the state and hospital officials are "working nonstop to resolve any accuracy and integrity issues that may have resulted."

"When the federal government announced on the 15th of July that the reports for hospitals, the data elements, were going from 41 to 90, effective July 22, and changing a number of definitions and some data hospitals report is weekly data and some of it's daily," Sudders said. "Now there's 91 data fields, daily reporting from hospitals, one week's notice to get in place.

"Acute care hospitals in Massachusetts report to us, and we report to the federal government. That's a lot of data with [new] definitions and changing technical elements."

Hancock Town Meeting Votes to Strike Meme Some Found 'Divisive'

By Stephen DravisiBerkshires Staff
10:40PM / Monday, May 06, 2024

Hancock town meeting members Monday vote on a routine item early in the meeting.

HANCOCK, Mass. — By the narrowest of margins Monday, the annual town meeting voted to strike from the town report messaging that some residents described as, "inflammatory," "divisive" and unwelcoming to new residents.

 

On a vote of 50-48, the meeting voted to remove the inside cover of the report as it appeared on the town website and in printed versions distributed prior to the meeting and at the elementary school on Monday night.

 

The text, which appeared to be a reprinted version of an Internet meme, read, "You came here from there because you didn't like it there, and now you want to change here to be like there. You are welcome here, only don't try to make here like there. If you want to make here like there, you shouldn't have left there in the first place."

 

After the meeting breezed through the first 18 articles on the town meeting warrant agenda with hardly a dissenting vote, a member rose to ask if it would be unreasonable for the meeting to vote to remove the meme under Article 19, the "other business" article.

 

"No, you cannot remove it," Board of Selectmen Chair Sherman Derby answered immediately.

 

After it became clear that Moderator Brian Fairbank would entertain discussion about the meme, Derby took the floor to address the issue that has been discussed in town circles since the report was printed earlier this spring.

 

"Let me tell you about something that happened this year," Derby said. "The School Department got rid of Christmas. And they got rid of Columbus Day. Now it's Indigenous People's Day.