Dozens of Maine business owners urge Mills to continue quarantine

File Photo / Jim Neuger David Turin, who owns three restaurants in the Portland area, was one of those who urged Gov. Janet Mills to continue the 14-day quarantine on travelers to the state.

Write a Comment

By William Hall

Dozens of southern Maine businesses are urging Gov. Janet Mills to continue the requirement that travelers to the state quarantine themselves for two weeks as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.

The measure, which Mills ordered April 3, has been a sticking point as portions of the state and its economy reopen for business.

Mills had also ordered the closure of nonessential business operations across the state in response to the pandemic, but the shutdown is gradually being lifted. Last week, seven groups representing the tourism industry wrote Mills to say the quarantine should be lifted too.

But on Monday, owners of 82 small businesses — mostly dining and retail establishments in the Portland area but also including ones such as Lubec Brewing Co. and Bridgton Antiques — appealed to Mills to keep the precaution in place.

“The travel quarantine is one of the only protections we feel allows us a fighting chance to maintain our low [COVD-19] case numbers and to protect our workers and ourselves,” the owners wrote in a letter.

Signing the letter were Erin Kiley and Nathaniel Baldwin, owners of Portland Flea-for-All, a vintage-merchandise retailer on Congress Street. Other signers included Jay Villani, of Local 188 Restaurant Group, and Briana and Andrew Volk, of Portland Hunt + Alpine Club. Most of the businesses who co-signed have fewer than 10 employees, according to the letter.

The quarantine is one of the reasons COVID-19 hasn’t taken a higher toll in Maine, the business owners said, and eliminating the requirement would subject the state to more infection and greater economic damage.

“Maine is finally positioned to get to the other side of the health crisis because we acted swiftly and efficiently to stay home. We’ve contained the spread, and are just starting to see a flattening of the curve … Lifting the quarantine and inviting in out-of-state tourists would create an entirely new strain on an already-precarious system.”

In contrast, the letter last week from the Maine Tourism Association and other groups said the quarantine threatened an industry “on the verge of collapse” and didn’t accommodate the many travelers who come to Maine for short stays.

“Visitors need to feel welcome,” the letter said.

Last Thursday, Mills appeared open to compromise. “Ultimately, it is the goal of the administration to be able to adjust the 14-day quarantine, but to do so in a way that still protects the health of Maine people,” she said.

In their letter, the business owners took aim specifically at the tourism groups, writing Mills: “The appeal you received from a group of Maine tourism agencies goes against the common sense and diligence we’ve all committed to the last two months. More importantly, it puts workers and small employers in the line of fire, as we are the public faces of tourism. We can't help but wonder how many Maine small businesses that group actually represented with their letter."