I have rebooked our beach mini vacation for end of September for DH birthday. Maybe it will better then. We don’t have to interact with folks much. We’ll take what we need with us. Only 3 hr drive in state. I cancel up to 3 days ahead so I’ll be watching their numbers. I use the weather channel app to watch a city I am interested in.
Now that CapitalOne has credited the charge on JustFly.com for our airline ticket, we get an email from Norwegian Air saying that they are processing a refund! They said we have to contact JustFly.com to get it. Sigh. Not sure what to do now. It’s been almost three months since I requested a refund.
I’m not expecting to see my own (past college age kids) this Thanksgiving. The one in California won’t get on a plane. The one in Maryland (now off NY’s naughty list) isn’t allowed to travel further than 100 miles from base without special permission.
@Iglooo I’m not even going to try to explain why the quarantine regs are in place. I am sure you are smart enough to understand this reasoning yourself.
I will say, if anyone plans to travel to a place with certain Covid guidelines, please plan to follow them. Otherwise, go elsewhere. My opinion.
Don’t worry. I rarely travel to Northeast. If I do, I am not from a state in the quarantine list. Your guidelines won’t restrict me in anyway. No, I really don’t understand what distinguishes those states other than they had many cases early on. Does it make it more prone to the virus? Have they used up all the resources and can’t deal with any more cases? We don’t have quarantine requirement in my state. As far as I know, people come and go freely. I haven’t heard of any outbreak from it. The only reason I can think of is those states must be a virus magnet, and they have to be extra cautious much like at risk groups…
Yes they are a virus magnet because they have a lot of DENSITY. The reason we don’t want people from at risk states here is because we lost a lot of people and now want to be able to travel freely within our own states without having to worry about new outbreaks. As it is - the states that aren’t taking this seriously are affecting our lives because of fear of national spread and that affected local colleges and schools deciding to go online. Many local schools looked at Georgia and other places that had unsuccessful openings and are now starting online. Great, right? We had strict strict quarantine in the spring to flatten our curve, now we can’t open more because others didn’t. So that’s why we have quarantine restrictions… I’m very pleased with them. I’d prefer that to more closings.
We seem to be divided by geography these days. This virus doesn’t respect boundaries. It can’t be contained within one community, one state, or even one country. The only way we can contain it is if we collectively all do our part to minimize its spread. For those of us who love travel, it means no unnecessary travels, and when we do have to travel, take all precautions, not only to protect ourselves but also others.
@Iglooo
I’m guessing the quarantine thing is not just a state that has had a concerning experience and is densely populated, but also that it’s a state that normally draws from areas of concern. For example, a lot of New Yorkers seem to move to or vacation in FL; FL has had growing number of positive tests and some well-publicized risky behaviours. Sounds like NY is saying, “hey, FL, figure out your virus thing without sharing it with us, you come here, you quarantine until we are pretty sure you are safe.”
I’m on the west coast, all Canadians who are able to cross the border back to Canada have to quarantine for 14 days and the border people are checking, many stories of calls and of a checker showing up to be sure the person is abiding by the rules. Because Canada views the US as risky.
I think the places who are being more conservative in their management of the risks, want to be sure people from out of state don’t start something new and difficult to manage.
@somemom I am sure every state wants to prevent that. I am looking at states in the east coast. Most don’t seem to have a list. Look at PA or MD. They are pretty conservative on the virus and people from all states come and go freely. What makes the NY or CT, etc different that necessitates the ban list? How are they different from PA or MD? NYC is densely populated but the rest seems about equal.
Then go to MD or PA, if you like their guidelines better.
Please folks, just adhere to guidelines in the state you are visiting. Please.
The states that are requiring quarantine are also those that are implementing some of the more rigorous mitigation strategies (mask requirements, no indoor dining yet, limits on size of indoor gatherings). I think the idea is the governors of those states would like to avoid having the hard work the citizens have been doing (voluntarily or not) undone by visitors from states that haven’t managed to keep their infection rates under the threshold.
I just travelled from overseas to the US to see our son who attends university in the US. I hadn’t seen him since January. Everyone at the airports and on the flights was following the rules wearing a mask over both their nose and mouth (only saw a very few people not wearing it over their nose). A few people were wearing face shields and masks.
I wore a face shield and mask, and the person in the same row also had a face shield and mask (middle seat empty). Hand sanitizer and wipes were given to everyone as we boarded the flight, even if you brought your own. There was plenty of space in the airport to social distance while waiting for the flight.
@Iglooo , Pennsylvania has a ban list. It comes out every Friday. https://www.health.pa.gov/topics/disease/coronavirus/Pages/Travelers.aspx If my husband or I travel to one of those states, we’ll have to quarantine for two weeks before going back to work. People are, on the whole, very good about following the states mask mandate. What I’ve found more troubling is local parties with mostly younger people. You can break the guidelines at home as easily as you can on vacation.
There are serious questions whether sweeping interstate travel bans are constitutional.
@Iglooo each governor makes decisions based on his/her judgment. Look at South Dakota - what a disaster. The governor decided to let just about anything go, and now bikers who attended the rally in her state have infected people all over the country.
I am very thankful for our strict governor. Even with “good” numbers, things can go south quickly. There was a wedding in Millinocket, Maine recently. Middle of nowhere - I’ve been there. I’m sure people thought, “Oh, nothing will happen here! It’s safe!” Well, 32 of the 65 attendees tested positive. 28 of them developed symptoms. Those 32 went on to infect at least 48 others, one of whom died. They caused outbreaks at a nursing facility and a sheriff’s department, many miles away.
My question would be why aren’t the “lax” states being more careful?
I don’t question any state that sets up a state quarantine/ban list. It is no state’s desire to turn away tourism and travel to their state except for one thing - for safety and health.
Many, many, MANY are having to do without visiting family out of state. For months. Travel for any other reason except for perhaps critical business is just extra and should be subject to limitations if the state decides so.
Want to vacation? Choose someplace close to home.
Also I’ll throw my biggest hat of support to NY state who was under such dire terrible conditions in the thick of all this - it is AMAZING to me that they have brought down there cases to >1% (I think?). Champs. I don’t blame them for guarding their time and effort and sacrifice with their lives (literally).
I suppose that’s why they are “strongly suggested” but not actually mandated (or able to be legally enforced), at least in my state (NJ).
The bans are very difficult to enforce. My neighbor just went to central PA to care for her elderly mother and begin the process of moving her to a senior facility. She flew into a secondary airport mid-state. No checking of departure residence or instructions to quarantine. Of course, she was going to a house, grocery and not much else during her PA stay, but there was no way to enforce any sort of quarantine.
@TatinG our state isn’t telling you not to come here. If you are on the list, you really asked to quarantine for 14 days if you do. It would just need to be a longer vacation ? including the quarantine time.
Except for Hawaii, I think it’s impossible to enforce travel bans between states. I don’t think you can legally pull cars over on an interstate with “bad” state plates. It’s employers and schools that are enforcing quarantine rules for residents vacationing in banned states.