Dear Colleagues,
Effective August 1, 2020, all visitors and returning residents entering Massachusetts must follow new travel orders announced by Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker last week.
The new executive order requires people arriving from outside the state to complete a travel form with details about where they are traveling from and acknowledge that they will quarantine for 14 days or can produce a negative COVID-19 test result that has been administered up to 72-hours prior to arrival in Massachusetts. Under the new rule, travelers may temporarily break their quarantine to receive a COVID-19 test. And if that test result is negative, they will not need to continue quarantining.
The new rules exempt travelers from states where both the average number of new cases and the percentage of positive tests are low as determined by the MA Department of Public Health. As of Friday, July 26 (the day Governor Baker announced the new rule) those states exempt from quarantine included: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Hawaii. Failure to comply with the new rules may result in a $500 fine per day. Visit the Commonwealth of Massachusetts COVID-19 website for detailed information about the travel order.
The MBL has been and will continue to follow the instruction of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts as it relates to out of state travel. As such, we have updated MBL Travel Guidelines, Manager’s Guide for Travel and other relevant MBL documents. We continue to ask all employees who are planning to travel out of state, regardless of length or destination, to complete a MBL travel form with information about their trip. Completing this form will help the MBL work with public health authorities to limit exposure in the event of a positive test case.
Massachusetts has made great progress to slow the spread of COVID-19 and gradually re-open the economy. This new travel guidance and the MBL community’s full adherence to it will help us do our part to keep transmission levels in the Commonwealth as low as possible.
Paul Speer
Chief Operating Officer