Moving to Maine? Travellers from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey exempt from 14-day quarantine
Based on a careful review of the metrics, travellers from Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey are now exempt from the 14-day quarantine requirement as well as the testing alternative option, Maine governor Janet Mills has said.
Mills had previously announced that travellers from New Hampshire and Vermont were able to travel to Maine without these restrictions as well.
The update will take effect this Friday, July 3.
Maine is the north-eastern most US state, known for its rocky coastline, maritime history and natural areas like the granite and spruce islands of Acadia National Park. Moose are plentiful in Baxter State Park, home to Mt. Katahdin, the endpoint of the famous Appalachian Trail.
Mills says the decision comes after the Administration reviewed public health data in other states to determine the appropriateness of additional exemptions. In evaluating these exemptions, the Administration takes into consideration several data measurements, which include but are not limited to, the prevalence of the virus and the positivity rates in other states.
In reviewing these metrics, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey, for example, demonstrate a lower positive rate than Maine’s. Additionally, the prevalence of the virus in these states is similar and continues a downward trend.
Mills said based on objective criteria, Connecticut, New York, and New Jersey fit the bill to be added to the exemption list, whereas Massachusetts and Rhode Island didn’t.
Governor Janet Mills, Commissioner Jeanne Lambrew of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and Commissioner Heather Johnson of the Department of Economic and Community Development joined Maine CDC Director Dr. Nirav Shah at Wednesday’s coronavirus briefing to discuss the updates.
Dr Shah said that from an epidemiological standpoint, Massachusetts’ positivity rate is a “good bit” higher than in Maine. In addition, they’re having more weekly cases per million, and the same goes for Rhode Island, he said.
Mills said she will also be issuing an Executive Order requiring Maine’s large retail stores, lodging establishments, restaurants, and outdoor bars, and tasting rooms in the coastal counties of Hancock, Waldo, Knox, Lincoln, Sagadahoc, Cumberland, and York, and in the more populous cities of Bangor and Brewer and Lewiston and Auburn, to enforce the State’s face covering requirement.
In the last week, states across the country, such as North Carolina, Nevada, Washington, and Oregon, have implemented similar strong measures related to face coverings, given the evidence that masks significantly reduce transmission of the virus.