Maine just closed for the summer

[BurrStone]

https://bangordailynews.com/2020/04/28/politics/gov-mills-proposed-timeline-for-reopening-maines-economy/

 

The governor announced a phased reopening yesterday. The first 2 phases are strict enough, but the Phase 3 opening on July 1st includes "the 14-day quarantine on people entering Maine” and could theoretically extend the quarantine until September. This is still tentative. Right now lodging can't be booked until July 1st, depending on further edicts from the governor. 

 

Cancelling my Maine smallmouth safari for June. 2 new boats, 4 guys. Feel bad for the small operators - like the camp we booked. 

[slowworm]

Wow.  So if I want to visit Maine I get to stay in isolation for 14 days.  No York beach trips with the kids for me this year.

 

Yup, Maine is screwed.  All the coastal areas heavily rely on tourism.

 

We will look back on this and ask questions if the economic cost was worth it.  We may not like to face it, but every life does have a cost.  How much do we spend to save a single life?  $10, $10,000 seems reasonable.  $1 Billion per life, probably not.

 

People will be writing about the history of COVID-19 and the response for decades.

[BurrStone]

The majority of those at risk of dying from this virus have already been identified and isolated .... people over 60 years old, with comorbidities like COPD, obesity, Type 2 diabetes; many already in nursing homes or under doctor's care. Yet, at present, Maine will require every business to complete "COVID-19 Prevention Checklists" earning themselves the opportunity to open under strict conditions and earning them a badge to be posted on their door. Instead of focusing on the specific identified weak spots they're creating Chinese fire drills for everyone to play along with! Insanity.

[je1946]

Whole thing is over kill, especially in Maine.  Not trying to say every life is isn't important, but47 deaths with average age over 80 and 3/4 of them in nursing homes.  Bring back LePage.  There's a lot to be said for common sense.

 

[haggard]

7 hours ago, slowworm said:

Yup, Maine is screwed.  All the coastal areas heavily rely on tourism.

Lean times ahead but we're a hardy sort. We'll do all right.  

[CHIP-MAINE]

sorry about that but we need to keep our state healthy. we have our numbers going down and dont need people bringing more cases in. i am all for closing the border for the season though i am in the tourism related industry. i have family in nh and mass. but we need to stop this now. i am all for putting state police right on the border.

[Tgs303]

I have a buddy who lives and NH and we like this guide out of Maine. Had to cancel our whole trip. We’re looking into maybe fishing out of NH. He’s going to let me know what the deal is. Hoping they don’t have a similar rule to Maine’s. I should also add I was going to drive up with minimal stops by packing things to eat and such. The wife and I have been working from home since March and so has friend. We’ve taken this all pretty seriously. At the same time we had the trip planned for awhile and it was something we were hoping we could still do. 

Edited May 12, 2020 by Tgs303
Added to thought

[je1946]

Have a friend who has a cottage in northern Maine and he said he traveled all the way up and back with Ma plates on his vehicle and no one said boo, said he traveled by many troopers and even had one pass him on his way home and no one pulled him over.  The Governor is taking a lot of heat over this shut down and Maine depends on vacation and tourist dollars as a big part of their economy.  Think about it, if your stopped in Maine and they make you quarantine for 14 days where are they sending you,  who pays for your lodging, food and drink if you have no money?  Truth be told I don't think they are enforcing it.  Talked to KTP and they said they have people who work there from MA and NH and no one is stopping them.  I bought a non resident Maine fishing license, so are they going to give me my money back?  Why would you sell someone a non resident license then tell them you can't come here to fish, well then shouldn't you return my money?  Would you go into a restaurant order and pay for a meal and have them say sorry we're closed, but thanks for the money?   HELLO

[BurrStone]

Okay so I've been going back & forth with the guy who owns the camp. He echoed everything je1946 just said. Essentially we arrive and are automatically in quarantine by limiting our movements to/from the cabin & dock, and are otherwise on the water. Whatever groceries/beer we need he'll fetch for us. Fact is, previous trips were nearly just like that. We bring in most of our food, anyway, and keep to ourselves. When you're on the water 10+ hours that's just how it works. One of us is an EMT who already got sick w/COVID and recovered, the others are an ER doc (who really needs this break!) and his brother-in-law, both of whom have so far tested negative. The spirit of the quarantine rules aren't violated by this, and by the time we get there the rural counties will already be seeing relaxed restrictions. Subsequent to my initial post Governor Mills responded to some overwhelming pressure. 

 

There's a funny dichotomy among Mainers. Many hate the tourists. But just as many rely on them. You park the car for a dinner stop behind a local who's got the "I'm not on your vacation" bumper sticker. Same with Cape Cod. Understandable, I suppose, but worth noting and respecting. Not an easy life up there.

 

But, yeah ... we're going.

[DanielG]

Southern Mainer here.

Maine is pretty much open to Mainers. We have 16 counties. The two most southern ones, York (mine) and Cumberland have the vast majority of cases and deaths and 80% of Maine's population. The other counties are opening up nicely. York and Cumberland will take more time as they should. Yes, if you come from out of state, which would be for us, Mass, NY, Conn. The most infectious states on the east coast (nation?)  you will have to quarantine. Sorry, but you've got bugs. I secretly think the idea is that you will stay home.

Being a local, I don't have to. I'm fishing.

 

Now, that being said. Maine is a big tourist state. It's a major part of our commerce. So, this 14 day quarantine thing is going to kill summer and hurt. But the state to the south of us has 79,000 infections and 5000+ deaths. The one beyond that has 350,000 infections and 27,000 deaths. We've managed 1500 infections and 67 deaths. Huge difference. We were on track, per predictions, for many times more than that. Our governor and the people of the state have done a good job.

 

Let me put that in a table

NY     350,000 and 27,000 deaths

Mass    79,000 and  5000  deaths

Maine     1500  and     67 deaths

The nearest border is 20 minutes from me. Boston 90 miles. I'm 65 yrs. old. I don't want to be there and I don't want Boston to come here.

 

Gov. Mills had free fishing licenses and free boat registration this spring (for us). She's an angler and said, "it's good for the soul, go out and fish." 

 

Someone said we tolerate but hate out of staters. We say that a lot. It's fun to bash their driving and such. But they're okay. It's all talk. Where I live, at the lake, they come and are all over the place. It gets busy and is sort of fun. And they're nice people. Then they disappear, like a ghost town. We, here in Maine like that too. Tourists are like the change of the seasons. We like the big differences when that happens. But stay home this year.

 

If you're more local like Mass, you're a foreigner. 

If you're from someplace like S Dakota or California, you're and alien and I don't mean the across the border kind....ayuh... ?

On 4/29/2020 at 6:22 PM, je1946 said:

Whole thing is over kill, especially in Maine.  Not trying to say every life is isn't important, but47 deaths with average age over 80 and 3/4 of them in nursing homes.  Bring back LePage.  There's a lot to be said for common sense.

 

Ha... do a search for his name on youtube and watch an idiot in action... several times. Especially that drunken, midnight, recorded phone call to the head of the state legislature F'ing him off.

 

And I love it when the governor and people do such a good job that their infection numbers are low then someone says, "see, nothing happened. It was all for nothing.". We were on track for at least triple the numbers we got. As we quarantined the numbers were reduced three times over the past two months.

[je1946]

13 hours ago, DanielG said:

Southern Mainer here.

Maine is pretty much open to Mainers. We have 16 counties. The two most southern ones, York (mine) and Cumberland have the vast majority of cases and deaths and 80% of Maine's population. The other counties are opening up nicely. York and Cumberland will take more time as they should. Yes, if you come from out of state, which would be for us, Mass, NY, Conn. The most infectious states on the east coast (nation?)  you will have to quarantine. Sorry, but you've got bugs. I secretly think the idea is that you will stay home.

Being a local, I don't have to. I'm fishing.

 

Now, that being said. Maine is a big tourist state. It's a major part of our commerce. So, this 14 day quarantine thing is going to kill summer and hurt. But the state to the south of us has 79,000 infections and 5000+ deaths. The one beyond that has 350,000 infections and 27,000 deaths. We've managed 1500 infections and 67 deaths. Huge difference. We were on track, per predictions, for many times more than that. Our governor and the people of the state have done a good job.

 

Let me put that in a table

NY     350,000 and 27,000 deaths

Mass    79,000 and  5000  deaths

Maine     1500  and     67 deaths

The nearest border is 20 minutes from me. Boston 90 miles. I'm 65 yrs. old. I don't want to be there and I don't want Boston to come here.

 

Gov. Mills had free fishing licenses and free boat registration this spring (for us). She's an angler and said, "it's good for the soul, go out and fish." 

 

Someone said we tolerate but hate out of staters. We say that a lot. It's fun to bash their driving and such. But they're okay. It's all talk. Where I live, at the lake, they come and are all over the place. It gets busy and is sort of fun. And they're nice people. Then they disappear, like a ghost town. We, here in Maine like that too. Tourists are like the change of the seasons. We like the big differences when that happens. But stay home this year.

 

If you're more local like Mass, you're a foreigner. 

If you're from someplace like S Dakota or California, you're and alien and I don't mean the across the border kind....ayuh... ?

Ha... do a search for his name on youtube and watch an idiot in action... several times. Especially that drunken, midnight, recorded phone call to the head of the state legislature F'ing him off.

 

And I love it when the governor and people do such a good job that their infection numbers are low then someone says, "see, nothing happened. It was all for nothing.". We were on track for at least triple the numbers we got. As we quarantined the numbers were reduced three times over the past two months.

I hear ya.  But if you/she doesn't want non residents up there fishing why sell non-resident fishing licences?   Are they returning the money of those who bought them?  Buy a license, but don't you dare step foot in our state, to use it.

[DanielG]

1 hour ago, je1946 said:

I hear ya.  But if you/she doesn't want non residents up there fishing why sell non-resident fishing licences?   Are they returning the money of those who bought them?  Buy a license, but don't you dare step foot in our state, to use it.

I see your point but I guess the answer is, you can come here you just need to quarantine yourself. Of course quarantine means no human contact. Maybe fishing is considered a solitary sport if done alone? I'm not sure. Anyway, an article in the local paper the other day says that state police have no indication if an out of state license plate has been here for two days or two months. No records for that, they're not stopping people at the border so I guess this is purely a mandatory (read as voluntary without any regulation of it) visit.

And I can tell you that they won't be hunting people ... heck. I live on a large lake in the populous part of the state and I've seen a game warden twice. Both when I was in my teens. I'm 65 now. And back then it was because of a broken strap on a seat cushion and the second time a 'how ya doin' sort of stop.

[je1946]

3 hours ago, DanielG said:

I see your point but I guess the answer is, you can come here you just need to quarantine yourself. Of course quarantine means no human contact. Maybe fishing is considered a solitary sport if done alone? I'm not sure. Anyway, an article in the local paper the other day says that state police have no indication if an out of state license plate has been here for two days or two months. No records for that, they're not stopping people at the border so I guess this is purely a mandatory (read as voluntary without any regulation of it) visit.

And I can tell you that they won't be hunting people ... heck. I live on a large lake in the populous part of the state and I've seen a game warden twice. Both when I was in my teens. I'm 65 now. And back then it was because of a broken strap on a seat cushion and the second time a 'how ya doin' sort of stop.

I've been checked more times in Maine by wardens than in any other state

[DanielG]

1 hour ago, je1946 said:

I've been checked more times in Maine by wardens than in any other state

Must be the lake I frequent. Maybe the are roaming in other lakes. We've got thousands of lakes.