An out-of-state travel order from Gov. Charlie Baker effective Aug. 1 requires visitors from most of the country to fill out a Massachusetts Travel Form before travel and quarantine for 14 days upon arrival — or face a daily, $500 fine.
The order and its enforcement has outsized implications for seasonal tourist destinations like the Vineyard, posing challenges for its local boards of health and transportation agencies as it arrives just in time for the traditionally busiest month of the Island’s summer.
“I think that the main point of this order was to persuade visitors to cancel or postpone their visits until their state is considered low risk,” Tisbury health agent Maura Valley said in an interview with the Gazette. “But, it really relies heavily on voluntary compliance — on people understanding the importance of this, and actually going on to fill out the form.”
According to the order, any visitor from out of state is required to fill out the online travel form, which asks travelers for their contact information, the dates of their stay in Massachusetts and to check a box ensuring that they do not have Covid-19 symptoms. Anyone traveling from states that are considered low risk is exempt from the order, including Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, New York, New Jersey and Hawaii. Rhode Island taken off the exemption list starting Aug. 7 because of a surge of cases there.
Visitors who receive a negative Covid-19 test result within 72 hours of travel or upon arrival are also exempt. But because test results are now taking an average of seven days, almost any out-of-state traveler will be required to quarantine for some period of time.
The information in the form is then compiled in the state public health database and shared with local boards of health, according to Ms. Valley, meaning that Island officials will know which travelers on the Vineyard are required to quarantine. Ms. Valley said that the state also plans to send daily text reminders to travelers about the rules.
Hotels, motels, AirBnBs and short-term rentals are all required to inform their guests of the guidelines as well, according to the order. And all airlines and buses originating outside the low-risk states have to do the same.
Ms. Valley said enforcement would still be tricky and that the order relied heavily on voluntary compliance.
“The way the order is written, it has the DPH enforcing it with assistance from local or state police if needed, or from local boards of health upon request,” she said. “So it can get a little confusing about where the enforcement is going to be.”
Health agents said it stands to reason that travelers who fill out the form are more likely to comply with the guidelines — their concern is with those who do not fill out the form.
“We do have the authority to issue a $500 fine,” Ms. Valley said. “That could come into play, if, for example, we find out that they were in close contact to a confirmed case and they should have been quarantining, or something similar to that. We do have that authority.”
Steamship Authority spokesman Sean Driscoll said the boat line plans to post signs at its off-Island ports in Hyannis and Falmouth, make announcements at terminals about the new regulations, attach the form to confirmation emails and include links and information about the form on its reservation app. Mr. Driscoll also said the SSA would use its travel alert system to inform reservation holders prior to their travel that they need to fill out the form.
But he said the SSA would not be making the form a requirement for travel.
“We’re not going to be questioning people necessarily as they are checking in. They need to put it on themselves to be investigating this,” Mr. Driscoll said. “And they are supposed to do it before they get to the state anyway.”
A pop-up now appears immediately on the Martha’s Vineyard Airport website that includes a form explaining the new guidelines and regulations for air travelers. A similar informational link appears on the Steamship website.
Mr. Driscoll cited a variety of factors for why the SSA could not require car passengers with “high-risk” state license plates to fill out the form, including the fact that someone with out-of-state plates may have been residing in Massachusetts or nearby states for the requisite time frame. The SSA is different from airlines, buses or trains, he said.
“We don’t know that everybody coming to our port has to [fill out the form]. If you have a flight full of people coming from Nebraska, you know everybody has to,” Mr. Driscoll said. “We are really looking at our role as education . . . we don’t have any role in the collection and enforcement of it.”
The state Department of Public Health has also has a 211 number that concerned residents can call regarding Covid-19 issues, which will then dispatch to local boards of health if follow-up is necessary. Ms. Valley said boards of health were still working out their level of involvement with the order, and noted that it would likely be unproductive for residents to call in every out-of-state license plate they saw.
Getting people to fill out the form, Ms. Valley said, is key.
“It comes down to people being honest, and doing this,” she said.
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