Governor Janet Mills at a Recent Coronavirus Daily Briefing in Augusta.
Visitors from Connecticut, New York and New Jersey are now exempted from the 14-day quarantine or negative COVID-19 testing alternative, effective this Friday, July 3, 2020 according to a press release issued from the Governor’s office today.
The decision comes after the Mills administration received public health data in other states to determine the appropriatness of additional exemptions, like those previously extended to New Hampshire and Vermont. In evaluating these exemptions, the Administration takes into consideration several data measurements, which include but are not limited to, to be 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 Maines. Additionally, the prevalence of this virus in these states is similar and continues a downward trend.
Ever with this update, Governor Mills continues to strongly recommend that visitors from these states obtain a test before visiting Maine.
Furthermore, with more people coming to Mane’s coastal towns and cities, the use of face coverings will become even more important. Governor Mills will issue 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 of masks significantly reduce transmission of the virus.
The Mills Administration exemptions come as other states, such as New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, institute and expand their own mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement for some travelers.