Bracing for travel risks during pandemic

Apparently, the new tourism campaign, “So Good to See You, Connecticut” could bear the subtitle: “Now go keep to yourself for two weeks.”

Gov. Ned Lamont is teaming with New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo and New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy to script a mandate that out-of-state visitors would have to self-quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

It has not gone unnoticed, particularly to snowbirds who are ready to return to the Northeast, that Florida still requires visitors from the tristate area to quarantine for a fortnight upon arrival. But fortunes have turned, while Connecticut, New York and New Jersey are yielding dividends of coronavirus policies with confirmed cases on the decline, Florida is among the states becoming undesirable hot spots.

“We want to make sure that our infection rate stays down based upon the great work we have been doing here,” said Paul Mounds, Lamont’s chief of staff.

Lamont noted that the plans are still taking shape, and may emulate strategies of states such as Alaska, which calls for visitors to provide proof of negative results of recent COVID-19 tests.

“I think you tie it to the higher positivity numbers,” Lamont said. “I don’t think you pick on a state. Obviously, you’re at some risk if there are planes coming in from Miami or Phoenix or Austin, where you have a very high positivity rate even among younger people who may be asymptomatic.”

Pitting states against one another is yet another of the unfortunate ancillary consequences of the pandemic. It’s understandable that Lamont, Cuomo and Murphy want to sustain the momentum their states have been experiencing after being in the epicenter of the virus for a considerable spell.

But enforcing such requirements does not seem feasible. Rhode Island tried to check people crossing its borders and ultimately surrendered. It’s hard to imagine too many visitors exist whose plans are framed around remaining in quarantine for two weeks. Consequently, some would skip the plan and just travel by road or rail.

We can embrace some of these ideas as suggestions for best practices, but the governors need to be practical. Massachusetts and New Hampshire have continued to require visitors to quarantine for two weeks, but that primarily just translates to message boards and the like along the Mass. Turnpike.

The best Lamont and Co. can probably do is to remind travelers that we are collectively many miles from the exit ramp of the pandemic. In the meantime, wear those masks, wash those hands, keep your distance and get tested if possible.

It’s especially hard to ignore the irony of Lamont trying to lock Connecticut’s doors to ward off out-of-state visitors just as a New Haven nightclub was shut down after being caught packing in a thousand people.

These are policies that can be better enforced throughout our communities. But as far as travel goes, Americans need to accept that the best summer slogan may be “It’s 2020, just stay home.”

The best Lamont and Co. can probably do is to remind travelers that we are collectively many miles from the exit ramp of the pandemic.