Nearly 1,700 out-of-state visitors to the Vineyard have filled out Massachusetts travel forms since they became required on August 1, surprising some of the Island public health officials who compiled the newly-available data.

“I was expecting fewer,” Tisbury health agent Maura Valley said. “Because, the state said, it’s really going to rely on people voluntarily complying. I am pleasantly surprised that so many people voluntarily complied.”

The travel form is central to the Baker administration’s new travel rules for out-of-state visitors that went into effect just at the height of the Vineyard’s summer tourist season. Travelers from any state outside New England, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii are required to fill out a form informing public health officials of the length of their visit and whether they plan to get tested for the coronavirus, or quarantine, as well as other information.

All travelers to Massachusetts from non-low risk states are required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, or prove that they have received a negative test result within 72 hours of their travel. Travelers can also get tested upon arrival, but must quarantine until they receive a negative result.

Visitors who do not comply with the rules are subject to a $500 fine from local public health officials.

Although the data from the form is being tracked by the state Department of Public Health and the state’s contact-tracing consortium, Island public health agents were provided with the information late last week. Despite the fact that there’s no way to know the number of travelers who don’t comply with the regulations, the available data showed that 1,674 travel forms had been filled from August 1 through Friday, August 14 for people coming to the Vineyard from non-low risk states.

Broken down by town, the data showed that 75 travelers to Aquinnah filled out the form, 175 in Chilmark, 504 in Edgartown, 350 in Tisbury, 135 in West Tisbury and 435 in Oak Bluffs. In total, 652 travelers have received a negative test result, 424 were waiting for results, 333 were planning to get a test, and 265 were planning to quarantine for the full time.

At the Edgartown board of health meeting Tuesday, public health officials said the data piqued their curiosity and left them feeling like a larger than expected number of travelers had complied with the regulations.

Oak Bluffs health agent Meegan Lancaster agreed with Ms. Valley’s sentiments.

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Ms. Lancaster said. “I think the vast majority of our travelers come from exempt states — New York, New Jersey and Connecticut — but I was pleasantly surprised to see how many people had registered.”

Ms. Valley said the boards of health had not yet issued a fine for non-compliance, and said that she did not know whether someone who filled out the form had tested positive for the virus.

It is impossible for public health agents to know the true percentage of travelers coming to the state who filled out the form — making it difficult to gauge the actual rate of compliance. While the Steamship Authority and Martha’s Vineyard Airport have extensive signs and public service announcements informing travelers about the rules, the agencies have said they view their role as educational and have no enforcement mechanism.

Edgartown health agent Matt Poole said Tuesday that his views on the numbers have swung. While he initially thought that 504 forms from Edgartown was a good yield, he felt a little more skeptical when he saw the aggregated numbers this week.

“For Martha’s Vineyard in August, considering the states that are not exempt, the number struck me as it could have been bigger,” Mr. Poole said. “I don’t know how accurate a reflection that is of the total number that should have registered.”

Although the data remains incomplete, Ms. Valley said health agents hoped to use the numbers to create broader metrics for gauging the Island’s caseload — something that has been difficult to accurately track since the summer began.

“It’s really difficult on the Island, because of the fluctuating population,” Ms. Valley said. “Right now, we are looking up, how do we get more information, more data to develop metrics that allow us to follow our caseload, our case reporting, our positive cases, and really get a sense of where we are as a community. We are trying to work that out, so I do think this might come in handy as we analyze the data looking at that.”