Massachusetts COVID-19 Order No. 45 - Mandatory Quarantine Order for Outside Travelers

Governor Charles Baker issued this executive order making 14-day quarantines for out-of-state travelers mandatory on July 24, 2020, in a departure from the advisory "order" declared in March asking travelers to either quarantine or avoid the commonwealth all together. This order exempts seven Northeastern states whose COVID levels had been deemed "low-risk," but required all out-of-state travelers from the remaining 43 states, and returning residents, to self-isolate or obtain a negative test result 72 hours prior to arrival. Failure to meet these guidelines carried with it a penalty of a $500/day fine; a feature that was absent from the earlier travel advisory guidelines. With Massachusetts having seen improvement from the springtime surge that left tens of thousands of residents infected and over 8,000 dead, the Commonwealth sought to stay ahead of the virus curve and squelch an expected resurgence, as tens of thousands of returning students from across the country prepared to descend upon greater Boston colleges and universities in the fall.

July 24, 2020

Office of the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Aaron Peterka

Northeastern University

Text

English Government State

English Politics

English Travel

executive orders

Massachusetts

Charles Baker

travel restrictions

quarantine

08/05/2020

08/18/2020

10/18/2023