In a Facebook live chat with Lt. Gov. Green that was hosted by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, more details about the pre-travel testing program were revealed. Green says that on Thursday, October 1st, a press conference will be held to discuss the program in detail. Also on Thursday, www.hawaiicovid19.com/travel will be loaded with all the firm information.
Here’s the full video:
At about the 11-minute mark, the lieutenant governor offered some previews of the pre-travel testing program and what we should hear at Thursday’s press conference. Here are the newest points we gathered:
- CVS, Walgreens and Kaiser Permanente are all in contract with Hawaii to offer pre-travel testing. By October 10th, their systems and websites should start to have pre-travel testing information loaded.
- Quest Labs will be another testing partner that will be added. Quest Labs has a large network which includes many Walmart locations.
- Both United and Hawaiian airlines will be offering some limited testing as we shared last week. The lieutenant governor hinted that another airline should be making an announcement soon. UPDATE: American Airlines to offer testing for passengers traveling through DFW.
- Mail-in testing will be an option, but only if the process of taking the sample is observed.
- Hawaii had previously stated that persons of all ages must be tested, but they plan to change to allow children under the age of five to be exempt from testing.
- Presently most testing partners will not test children 12 and under. Hawaii is working with partners to get them to lower that age limit.
- The Safe Travels Form will be the place where travelers upload their test results. For a refresher, we wrote about Hawaii’s Safe Travels form here.
As a reminder, other key pieces of pre-travel testing program information that we’ve previously shared:
- With a negative test result, a visitor will be exempt from the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
- The test must be taken within a 72-hour period before traveling. This testing window is defined as within 72 hours prior to the final leg of departure.
- The acceptable test is a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) processed in a certified CLIA laboratory. It is up to the traveler to verify that their test meets those criteria.
- If a test result is not received upon arrival in Hawaii, the traveler must go directly into quarantine while they await their result.
- The cost of testing is the responsibility of the traveler.
At around the 23-minute mark of the video, the lieutenant governor briefly discusses international travel and their testing options. A NAAT taken with their countries’ certified lab standard would be accepted. He specifically mentions that the state is working with Japan, Korea and Canada regarding testing plans. It sounds like we’ll be hearing more about international travel testing options at the Thursday press conference as well.
The lieutenant governor is heading up the pre-travel testing program, so his word is a reliable source. Bear in mind that it is possible that lawmakers could change any of the above prior to the press conference. So, we’ll have to wait for the official word later this week.
In the meantime if you have any questions about this process, check www.hawaiicovid19.com/travel where there are already many FAQs addressed.
We’re really starting to feel that this time, Hawaii is going to open tourism on October 15th. How about you?
Sheila Beal
11 comments
Hi!
So if you have a direct flight to Hawaii that leaves at 9am Friday your test needs to happen no later than 9am Tuesday?
thanks
oops I meant no earlier than 9am Tuesday
That sounds like a correct interpretation to us. Let’s wait to see if they better define it and perhaps offer an example later this week.
How will the state handle people that tested positive and have already served their quarantine? People can test positive for up to 90 days after having CoVid-19
Check HawaiiCOVID19.com for any answer’s they may have provided on that scenario.
Glad to hear they hope to address the concerns of international travelers as well. It seems there is also negotiations ongoing here in Canada to hopefully adopt rules here perhaps similar to the rules in Hawaii so we can travel back home without quarantine. Canada has not officially opened up to international travel either and in my opinion something similar to Hawaii would be a start for sure.
What is Nucleic Acid Amplification Test?
They switched the verbiage up from earlier.
Is it the same or different than the “PCR” required test they originally proposed back in June?
Is the the technical term for “Rapid Antigen?”
We believe a PCR test is a type of NAAT. Maybe this helps: https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/coronavirus-testing-basics
After emailing with the Hawaii DOH….I was told it is traveler responsibility to know which test is accepted and the NAAT is the only test they are accepting …..although there are other molecular diagnostic tests falling under the FDA guidelines such as the PCR. Would love to know if you find something different and how much of Hawaii is even open?
Here’s the link to the highlights and details of the October 1st press conference: https://govisithawaii.com/2020/10/02/hawaii-covid-testing-plan-october-1-press-conference/
The NAAT is not easily available on the mainland and if you can find someone to administer…It comes at a high premium…$300 pp…… Especially here in Florida. Other molecular diagnostic tests are offered but Hawaii is not accepting. Know which test you are getting