CONCORD — Residents of New England states are no longer required to self quarantine for 14 days before staying in hotels and other lodging in New Hampshire, Gov. Chris Sununu said Thursday.
The requirement that people attest that they underwent such a quarantine will remain in force for people from outside the six New England states, which, in addition to New Hampshire, are Rhode Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Vermont and Maine.
Mike Somers, president of the New Hampshire Lodging and Restaurant Association, said, “for a lot of folks this is quite a big deal.
“Based on our current circumstances, we aren't seeing anywhere near the number of folks from far afield,” he said. “They are primarily from New England drive-in markets. Every little bit helps and we certainly welcome the governor’s decision and are excited that it landed before the 4th of July Weekend and hopefully we can have folks take advantage of that.”
Karmen Gifford, president of the Lakes Region Chamber, said it was important to ease the quarantine requirement for New England residents.
“We’re coming into tourism season,” she said. “I’m happy to see New Hampshire is taking that step — Maine and Massachusetts had already done so. So I think this kind of opens it up.”
She said asking people to attest that they have undergone a quarantine creates a kind of honor system.
“You don’t know if they are telling the truth or not,” Gifford said. “The biggest thing is to wear masks and practice the safety guidelines that are still in place.”
She said business appears to be picking up in the tourism sector.
“We are seeing the hotels and lodging filling up and we’re seeing waits for restaurants for people eating outside or inside. Weirs Beach is a destination. New Hampshire offers a lot of outdoors activities, so it's nice to see that boating and camping are picking up,”
Under state guidelines, non-New England guests should be made aware of the quarantine requirement at the time the reservation is made.
There is also a series of other guidelines that hotels and other lodging establishments are supposed to follow to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The guidelines cover sanitation, food service and social distancing, among other things.
On the Web:
New Hampshire Safer at Home Business Guidance:
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