As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, states have implemented restrictions and requirements for interstate travelers. Ballotpedia's coverage of the pandemic includes how federal, state and local governments are responding, and how those responses are influencing election rules and operations, political campaigns, the economy, schools and more. To date, 27 states have issued at least one executive order restricting interstate travel. Of the 27 executive orders issued by governors or state agencies that imposed restrictions on out-of-state visitors, 27 have been overturned.
The map below shows the states that have implemented at least one restriction or requirement for interstate travelers through executive orders issued by governors or state agencies and which of those restrictions are still active.Choose your state, Alabama Alaska Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Kentucky Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Mississippi Missouri Montana Nevada New Jersey New Mexico New York North North Carolina DakotaohiooklahomaOregonPennsylvaniaRhode Island South CarolinaSouth DakotaTennessee TexasutahvermontVirginiaWashingtonWashington, D, C, West VirginiaWisconsinWyoming A red dot next to a state indicates active travel restrictions. A green dot indicates that a state has no active travel restrictions. Ballotpedia believes that states have active travel restrictions if a governor or agency has issued an order or directive requiring the traveler to quarantine upon arrival, present a negative COVID-19 test, or provide proof of vaccination.Ballotpedia does not count quarantine requests, submission of a negative COVID-19 test, or proof of vaccination as travel restrictions. For example, Alaska does not have any travel restrictions in place.
However, out-of-state visitors are encouraged to arrive into the state with a negative COVID-19 test performed prior to departure. Visitors without a negative COVID-19 test can get tested at the airport on their own. The state recommends that visitors practice social distancing or self-quarantine while waiting for test results.Asymptomatic visitors who can provide a positive COVID-19 test performed within 90 days of departure and fully vaccinated visitors do not need to have a test. Arizona also does not have any travel restrictions in place.
The 14-day quarantine requirement for out-of-state travelers was rescinded on May 12 by Governor Doug Ducey (R). Hawaii also does not have any travel restrictions in place. More information can be found at the Illinois Department of Public Health. Iowa also does not have any travel restrictions in place.
Kansas also does not have any travel restrictions in place.More information can be found at Mass.gov. Nebraska also does not have any travel restrictions in place. More information can be found at Visit North Carolina. More information can be found under North Dakota Tourism.
Ohio also does not have any travel restrictions in place. However, Governor Mike DeWine (R) issued a notice asking travelers from states with positive test rates of 15% or more to quarantine for 14 days after entering Ohio. The notice also applied to Ohioans returning from those states.DeWine said counseling was not a mandate. At the time the notice was issued, nine states reached the threshold, including Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Mississippi, Nevada, South Carolina and Texas.
Utah also does not have any travel restrictions in place. Wisconsin also does not have any travel restrictions in place.New York said Tuesday that Massachusetts would qualify to be added to its state's list of travel advisors but declined to add the state citing the interconnected nature of the region and the mode of transportation between states. Massachusetts currently has no travel restrictions for visitors from nine states and the District of Columbia including New York New Jersey and four of the other five New England states with the exception of Rhode Island.Travel warnings pointing to Massachusetts as a high-risk location come as families are weighing how to celebrate Thanksgiving next month which is traditionally one of the busiest travel holidays of the year. Governor Charlie Baker said Wednesday that he told New York and Connecticut they were making a mistake to no avail.Connecticut's decision to include Massachusetts on the list came as a surprise even to Governor Baker who called it a “bad idea”.
And while Massachusetts rules have no time-based exceptions they do allow limited types of cross-border travel for things like commuting to work caring for a family member or going to the grocery store.Currently zero states have travel restrictions that governors or state agencies issued in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Just days after Connecticut announced that people coming from neighboring Massachusetts must now comply with its quarantine rules to travel out of state due to a rise in COVID-19 rates Massachusetts will require most travelers coming north across the border to do the same.The move comes days after Connecticut and New Jersey added Massachusetts to their own coronavirus hot spot lists. Southern Massachusetts neighbors are sounding the alarm about the growing number of COVID-19 cases in the Commonwealth adding it to their growing list of states under a travel warning Pennsylvania and California were also added to Connecticut's list on Tuesday bringing 40 states and two territories now on their list.Frequent changes to the travel advisory have been confusing and worrying for residents of Massachusetts and Connecticut. The risk for purposes of interstate travel policy in Massachusetts is determined by the Department of Public Health based on whether a state has fewer than 10 daily cases of COVID-19 per 100000 residents and a positive test rate of less than 5% during the prior seven-day period.Connecticut residents also have to test negative or quarantine after visiting Massachusetts for more than 24 hours.
This is the first time that Connecticut has entered the list of Massachusetts states subject to its travel order.