Effective immediately, New Hampshire has removed the quarantine requirement for New England residents traveling to the state for leisurely purposes.
Gov. Chris Sununu made the announcement during a Thursday afternoon news conference saying that residents in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, Vermont and Rhode Island will no longer have to quarantine for 14-days when visiting.
"Other states have taken the exact same action," he said.
In making the decision, the governor said the rate of coronavirus cases were looked at in each state over the last few days. It was determined that the other states were on par with New Hampshire where positive tests have remained below 5% for the past month and hospitalizations for the virus have also been low.
"For the time being, we're in a good place. If we see things spike, we might have to reverse course," Sununu said.
If residents are visiting anywhere other than New England, Sununu said the 14-day quarantine requirement still stands due to the high number of coronavirus cases in other states.
As of Thursday, two more New Hampshire residents died as a result of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The death toll in the Granite State is now 375, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.
Another 21 positive cases were reported, bringing the total number of people infected to 5,822.
More on the Coronavirus in New Hampshire
With more than 50,000 coronavirus cases reported nationally on Wednesday, state epidemiologist Dr. Benjamin Chan said during the news conference that the country is seeing a second surge but thankfully that wasn't the case in New Hampshire.
As the holiday weekend approaches, Chan said New Hampshire residents are still being urged to take precautions to keep coronavirus cases on the downswing.
Chan once again reiterated the need for staying 6-feet apart, hand washing and using cloth face masks. He also reminded residents that besides the coronavirus, there is still the threat of mosquito and tick-borne diseases.
On Monday, hotels, lodging and campgrounds in the Granite State were allowed to begin operating at 100% capacity again, amid the coronavirus pandemic.
