Gov. Baker clarifies which trips to Rhode Island are exempt from COVID-19 travel order
With a new travel order targeting Rhode Island now in effect, Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Friday clarified some of the exceptions to the rule.
Rhode Island was removed Tuesday from the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's list of states at "lower risk" for COVID-19 transmission, making it the only neighboring state subject to Gov. Charlie Baker's new travel order.
DPH said the decision was made "due to increases in both RI’s positive test rate and cases per 100,000."
As a result, starting Friday visitors arriving from Rhode Island must fill out a form, quarantine for 14 days or produce a negative COVID-19 test. DPH officials said an exemption applies for regular commuters, and Baker clarified that other essential everyday activities were also exempt.
"There are exemptions for transitory activities — grocery shopping, banking," Baker said Friday.
Baker also said, "Go to the store, do your shopping, wear a face mask, keep 6 feet apart from people and go home."
Violations of the order are enforceable with a $500 per day fine for noncompliance.
Also this week, Connecticut, New York and New Jersey added Rhode Island to their list of states included on a travel advisory.
The three states said anyone entering from Rhode Island should quarantine for 14 days.
The seven-day rolling average of daily new cases in Rhode Island has risen over the past two weeks from 62.43 new cases per day on July 23 to 94.43 new cases per day on Thursday, according to the Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering.
The seven-day rolling average of the positivity rate in Rhode Island has risen over the past two weeks from 3.66% on July 23 to 5.9% on Thursday, according to Johns Hopkins.