It seems that islands in the United States want to be more isolated during the coronavirus pandemic.
A small island town in Maine was among the first to say "not welcome" to outsiders as a way to stop the spread of COVID-19.
The North Haven Select Board voted March 15 to ban visitors and seasonal residents to the Penobscot Bay island with a year-round population of 400, although the ban was rescinded several days later, according to the Bangor Daily News.
"If people reside in places with better access to medical care than North Haven can provide they should refrain from traveling to the island," wrote Town Administrator Rick Lattimer in a letter to Maine Governor Janet Mills, explaining the town's actions.
Hawaii followed suit. On March 17, Governor David Ige urged visitors to stay away for 30 days, besides shutting down all state libraries, parks, bars and clubs.
Last week, Alaska Governor Mike Dunleavy issued the strictest travel-related quarantine order. Anyone arriving in Alaska from outside is subject to self-quarantine for 14 days, despite Alaska having fewer cases of infection than other states.
The mandate applies to Alaska residents, workers and travelers, and went into effect Wednesday.
"Arriving residents and workers in self-quarantine should work from home unless you support a critical infrastructure," Adam Crum, commissioner of the state's health and social services department, said at a news conference.
Similar restrictions began to catch on in other states as New York became the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.
Many New Yorkers flew to Florida to escape the pandemic despite the stay-at-home order. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said last week that on March 23 alone, 190 flights landed in Florida from New York area.
On March 24, DeSantis signed an executive order requiring anyone who travels from New York or New Jersey to Florida to self-isolate for two weeks immediately arriving in the state.
In the middle of last week, DeSantis announced that Florida is setting up road checkpoints along its panhandle border to direct motorists from Louisiana — where coronavirus infections are accelerating — to quarantine.
Florida is also setting up highway checkpoints at the state's northern border to screen New York motorists fleeing to the state on Interstate 95.
Rhode Island Governor Gina Raimondo first issued an order to require New Yorkers coming to the state to self-quarantine for 14 days last Friday. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo criticized the order.
Last Saturday, Raimondo expanded the mandatory self-quarantine order to anyone coming from out of state. Meanwhile, the Rhode Island National Guard had started going door-to-door in the coastal part of the state to inform any New Yorkers that they must self-quarantine for 14 days.
Now Texas has followed.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott issued executive orders Sunday to mandate self-quarantine of 14 days for both air and road travelers coming from the so-called hot zones where the numbers of COVID-19 cases are high.
Air travelers from the states of California, Louisiana, Washington and the cities of Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit and Miami as well as road travelers from Louisiana fall into the mandatory self-quarantine category. The order became effective Monday.
The Texas Department of Public Safety has been assigned to enforce the order and will conduct unannounced visits to designated quarantine locations to verify compliance. Violators will face criminal charge punishable by a fine up to $1,000, confinement in jail for up to 180 days or both.
