Mahalo to Chris Hill for sharing this lovely shot with us for Aloha Friday Photos. Chris took this photo on Maui during a visit in January 2019.
—
Hawaii Coronavirus Travel Restriction Update
Quarantine to be extended beyond June
Yesterday, Gov. Ige hosted a Facebook Community Connection in which he and the island mayors took questions from the public. One person asked if the 14-day quarantine would be extended beyond June 30. The governor responded:
“We will be extending the quarantine beyond June 30th. We talk about that all the time and certainly will be making that announcement soon. Inter-island is different, but transpacific continues to be a concern.”
So, the extension beyond June is not official yet, but the governor is clearly indicating that it will be made official soon. He’s also not indicated how much longer beyond June that the quarantine will be in place.
Travel Bubble may open between Hawaii and Japan
There’s a concept of a “travel bubble’ which would open tourism without quarantine from another low infection destination. That’s a concept that we’ve heard that Hawaii leaders are considering and recently that concept appears to be taking more shape. The proposed first route of tourism is with Japan. You can read about this news via this Star-Advertiser article.
“Medium risk” businesses are reopening for residents
The number of Hawaii’s cases of COVID-19 remains low as compared to the rest of the country. The number of new cases have been in the lower, single digits and there has even been a string of consecutive days without a new case. As such, the islands have plans to reopen more shops, parks and salons for island residents. Restaurants will be opening for dine-in services. Everything that will be reopening will require social distancing. The reopening of these sites and establishments vary by island.
Additional relevant news sources we recommend:
- Star-Advertiser: Trans-Pacific quarantine will go beyond June, Gov. David Ige says
- Hawaii News Now – Ige to extend quarantine for mainland, international travelers beyond June 30
Sheila Beal
2 comments
I wonder if when the 14 day quarantine is lifted it will be to all of the mainland or just certain areas with lower infection rates? Obviously just a guess?
Still crossing my fingers and toes that we can keep our plans for Kauai in mid October. We are on board with the proposed testing protocols.
If Hawaii would do three things it would be safe to open. Most people plan to visit for seven days or less. Contact tracing will not work the people who are proposing this will balloon the budget with little or no effect. You have to think 14 days before you see any symptoms. So the government is going to trace everyone you were around plus everyone who those people were around and so on. Your talking in the period of one week thousands of people in contact with thousands of other people. Here is how you do it, and I am a healthcare professional.
1. Masks are mandatory in all indoor or close proximity establishments.
2. Tourist will be tested or have an antigen test with it 3 days of travel.
3. Upon arrival at the airport tourist will be tested. Tourist will be required to quarantine for 24 hours until their test results come back.
4. Once negative quarantine lifted