Northeast States Take Notice Of MA's Coronavirus Struggle

Connecticut and New Jersey this week added Massachusetts to their coronavirus travel advisory lists, meaning any Bay State resident heading into those states must test negative for the virus or quarantine there for 14 days.

Massachusetts avoided landing on New York's list despite qualifying for it, but Gov. Andrew Cuomo still warned his state's residents against traveling to Massachusetts.

Most states have landed on Connecticut's list, but Massachusetts had to this point avoided it. People traveling to the state must fill out this travel form. Those who work essential jobs in Connecticut are not subject to the advisory if their travel is work-related, but should still fill out the travel forms.

People in violation of the advisory are subject to fines of up to $1,000.

States are added to Connecticut's list if they have an average daily positive coronavirus test rate of 10 percent over seven days or more than 10 cases a day per 100,000 residents. The average in Massachusetts is 15.1 cases.

Connecticut did not add Rhode Island to its travel advisory despite the state qualifying for it, citing how connected the two states are. Rhode Island is the one New England state on Massachusetts' list.

"Governor [Ned] Lamont highly discourages, to the extent practical, all nonessential travel to limit the spread of COVID-19," according to the statement from the Connecticut governor's office.

Cuomo said exempting Massachusetts visitors — and New York residents returning from Massachusetts — is not practical.

"Neighboring state Massachusetts now meets the criteria for the travel advisory, in addition to Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania — however, given the interconnected nature of the region and mode of transport between the states, a quarantine on these states is not practically viable," Cuomo's office said in a statement.

Massachusetts has a travel advisory list of its own, which includes Rhode Island and almost every state outside the Northeast. Those who violate the travel advisory are subject to a fine of up to $500.