Crossing State Lines: Maine Exempts Massachusetts from Travel Quarantine & Other Updates

As states continue to track the spread of COVID-19 and its impact on interstate travel, we wanted to provide an update to the quarantine requirements in New England. With Massachusetts now on Maine’s exempted states list, Rhode Island remains the only state in the region without full reciprocity, and is still subject to quarantine requirements in Connecticut, Maine, and Massachusetts.

For updates and more information on interstate travel and quarantine requirements across New England, please click here to view our “crossing state lines” tracker, and here for our alert on reopenings throughout the region. 

Connecticut

Rhode Island is the only state in New England not exempt from the Connecticut’s quarantine requirements. Exempt states outside of New England include California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oregon, Washington (state), Washington, D.C., Wyoming, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Maine

Effective September 23, 2020, Massachusetts residents will no longer have to quarantine for 14 days when traveling to Maine. Currently, Rhode Island is the only New England state not exempt from Maine’s quarantine requirement. New York and New Jersey are also exempt.

Massachusetts

States exempt from the quarantine or testing requirement still include all of New England except for Rhode Island, as well as Colorado, New York, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington (state), and Wyoming.

New Hampshire

Although there are no formal restrictions in place, New Hampshire asks anyone, including residents, coming into the state from areas outside New England to self-quarantine for a two-week period, regardless of their mode of transportation. However, the state’s universal guidelines, applicable generally to all businesses, requires employers to prohibit any employee from entering the workplace prior to completion of a 14-day self-quarantine upon entry or return to New Hampshire from any state outside of New England except for essential travel.

Rhode Island

States not considered hotspots and exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement include all of New England, Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Washington (state), and West Virginia.

Vermont

Travelers from certain counties with low rates of active cases do not need to quarantine when they arrive in Vermont. Each Tuesday, Vermont updates its map identifying quarantine and non-quarantine counties throughout the Northeast including New England, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington, D.C., Virginia; and West Virginia.

For questions on how these orders affect your business, please contact firm attorneys Kathleen Hamann or Sarah Remes.

RECENT UPDATES AND DIRECTORY OF COVID-19 ATTORNEYS & RESOURCES

With so much information, so many decisions and so little time to address issues raised by the coronavirus pandemic, you need help at your fingertips. Click here for our most recent updates and a directory of Pierce Atwood COVID-19 attorneys who are knowledgeable on the various questions and challenges you may be confronting.

We will continue to add information about specific topics so please check back frequently!

Please contact your principal attorney at Pierce Atwood or one of the attorneys in the directory for immediate assistance.