New MA Travel, Quarantine Rules Start This Weekend: What To Know

WORCESTER, MA — If you're headed back to Massachusetts from a Florida vacation, or from almost anywhere outside the Northeast, you will face some new quarantine rules this weekend.

Gov. Charlie Baker's new coronavirus travel restrictions start Saturday. In general, anyone traveling into Massachusetts — including residents — will have to follow new quarantine and test guidelines or face a $500 per-day fine.

Here's what you need to know about the new Massachusetts travel restrictions:

Travel forms

Anyone entering Massachusetts from 41 states will have to fill out a travel form. The form includes information about recent travel, contact information and recent coronavirus testing.

Fines

If you don't fill out the travel form, you could be hit with $500 per-day fine.

Travel Form Exemptions

Some people won't have to fill out the travel form. Those include people returning from eight "low-risk" states (Hawaii, New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine and New Hampshire); people who are passing through the state — traveling from Pennsylvania to Canada, for example; people with fixed out-of-state travel for work or school; military personnel; workers providing critical infrastructure support; and people who travel for medical care.

Quarantine Requirement

Everyone entering Massachusetts from out-of-state must quarantine for 14 days. Exemptions include: travel from one of the eight low-risk states; people who can provide a negative test result that's no more than 72 hours old; and the other exemptions listed above.

Quarantine Alternative

You can avoid the 14-day quarantine if you can get a negative test result. You can take the test when you get to Massachusetts, but you have to remain under quarantine until you get a negative result. You can also leave the state before the end of your quarantine.

Questions? See the state's web page on the new travel restrictions, which begin at 12:01 a.m. on Saturday.