Regionalize COVID borders

 From Robert Whitcomb’s “Digital Diary,’’ in GoLocal24.com

Massachusetts and Rhode Island should follow New York State’s example on the movement of people from neighboring states as the COVID-19 pandemic rages on. Gov. Andrew Cuomo has decided not to add Connecticut, New Jersey and Pennsylvania to states from which travelers must quarantine for 14 days or show proof that they’ve tested negative within the previous 72 hours. That decision comes even as COVID cases continue to spike in the three states.

The Empire State declared that because of the interconnectedness of  the Greater New York City region, a quarantine on those states “is not practically viable.” 

“There is no practical way to quarantine New York from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Connecticut,” Governor Cuomo said. “There are just too many interchanges, interconnections, and people who live in one place and work in the other. It would have a disastrous effect on the economy, and remember while we’re fighting this public health pandemic we’re also fighting to open up the economy.”

(It’s good to read that Connecticut is opening up things with Rhode Island and Massachusetts.) 

Well, Rhode Island and Massachusetts are also tightly connected, especially the northern Ocean State, which to some degree is part of Greater Boston.  Recently, Massachusetts imposed  quarantine and testing rules on Rhode Islanders, but COVID cases are climbing in both states. And enforcing quarantine and testing rules on people going back and forth between the two states is virtually impossible.

Quarantine and testing rules between the two states need to be removed to boost their economies  even while the public should continue to be ordered to wear face masks and practice social distancing in indoor places and confined outdoor spaces. People who refuse to comply should be kicked  out of stores, restaurants, offices, etc. and off public transit.