Governor Baker announced today that effective effective August 1, 2020, all visitors and returning residents entering Massachusetts must follow new travel orders. All visitors entering Massachusetts, including returning residents, who do not meet an exemption, are required to:
- Complete the Massachusetts Travel Form prior to arrival, unless you are visiting from a lower-risk state designated by the Department of Public Health.
- Quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to your arrival in Massachusetts.
If your 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.
Lower-Risk States: For the purposes of this order, "Lower Risk States" include those listed below. Travelers from these states are not required to fill out the Travel Form:
- Connecticut
- Hawaii
- Maine
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New York
- Rhode Island
- Vermont
Exemptions: 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, as listed above.
- 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. Workers who travel to or from Massachusetts for leisure or personal reasons cannot rely on this exemption.
Important Employer Information: Employers are strongly discouraged from requiring or allowing business-related travel to non-lower-risk states. Employers that permit employer-paid or reimbursed travel to non-lower-risk states should take measures to ensure employees comply with the Travel Order. Employers are also urged to strongly discourage their employees from taking leisure travel to non-lower-risk destinations.
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