Travelers To Hawaii Will Have To Test For COVID-19, Prior To Departing For Their Island Vacation
by Heather Cassell
American travelers will soon be able to sip a Mai Tai by the beach or scuba dive, whale watch, and enjoy Hawaii’s great outdoors and fresh sea food as long as they are coronavirus-free.
Starting August 1, travelers to the islands who test negative for COVID-19 will be able to avoid the state’s mandated 14-day quarantine for non-resident travelers.
The catch is, travelers must test negative no more than 72 hours before arriving in the Rainbow State, Hawaii’s Governor David Ige told reporters at a press conference June 24.
Hawaii closed its borders and ordered the travel quarantine mandate for travelers’ March 26 near the beginning of the pandemic when the state saw the numbers of infections rapidly rise in other states and countries.
Quarantine for travelers from out-of-state is set to expire July 31, but an extension for travelers without approved negative COVID-19 tests is expected.
David believes that the pre-testing plan will allow the island’s travel industry to reopen without a significant spike in new coronavirus cases in Hawaii.
The travel restriction brought the islands’ travel industry to a screeching halt plunging it to a 98.9% arrival rate in May, according to Hawaii Tourism Authority on June 29.
The islands’ tourism authority reported only 9,116 visitors traveled to the islands by air and cruise ships in May compared to 841,376 during the same period a year ago. On June 30, only 436 visitors arrived in the islands.
Hawaii’s hotels haven’t fared much better with Oahu’s occupancy rate being the lowest in the country at 13.7%, according to the hotel data firm STR, reported the Chronicle.
Travelers who arrived on the islands and ignored the quarantine mandate faced a $5,000 fine and up to a year in jail.
Many visitors and even a handful of residents have been arrested for violating quarantine rules since they went into effect, reported Hawaii News Now. More than 120 visitors have been returned home by Hawaii’s government.
The Hawaiian governor’s quarantine mandate faces legal challenges and criticism from the US Justice Department July 2, reported Hawaii News Now. The agency called the mandate “likely” unconstitutional and that it discriminated against non-Hawaii residents.
“The sacrifice of keeping our community safe and healthy,” said David reported the media outlet, “has come at the expense of more than 225,000 residents who are now unemployed” — about a third of Hawaii’s workforce.
Fending Off COVID-19
COVID-19 caused by the novel coronavirus was declared a global pandemic by the World Health Organization March 11. Nearly 525,000 people have died and nearly 11 million people have been infected around the world, according to Worldometers.
Hawaii has only had 946 cases and 18 deaths as of July 3.
However, Hawaii hasn’t been completely immune to the coronavirus or the recent uptick in infection rates.
It’s unknown if the two Hawaiian Airlines flight attendant trainers and six flight attendants who tested positive for COVID-19 while undergoing training at the airline’s Honolulu headquarters July 2 are included in this figure.
Outside of the airline, Hawaii has been seeing double digits with an average of about 13 new infections daily within the past two weeks. On June 28, Hawaiian health officials reported 27 new cases, reported the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
The numbers are concerning Tim Brown, a senior fellow in infectious disease at the East-West Center, who co-authored a recent study on the prevention of travel-related reintroduction of COVID-19 to Hawaii. The study presented a strategy for travelers of multiple points of screening, particularly prior to boarding a plane for Hawaii.
The University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization found similar strategies such as screening airline passengers’ temperatures prior to departure removes about one-third of infectious passengers from flights to Hawaii. Adding a test for COVID-19 removes 80% to 90% of infectious passengers from flights to Hawaii.
Screening only for temperature and symptoms, if 6,000 visitors arrive daily it could lead to 750 additional active infections to the islands a month. That would overwhelm the state’s health care system. Testing would reduce that estimate to about 150, the authors estimated.
Calming Fears
David didn’t envision waiting for a vaccine for the virus or other medical advancements before lifting the quarantine mandate, but he expressed hope for the pre-test plan, he said. He pointed to Alaska’s pre-testing model that tests incoming travelers upon landing that seems to be working.
Concern among Hawaiians remains as reports of coronavirus cases in some states are spiking and resurging in others that were once doing well flattening the curve.
Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell said he understood residents’ concerns. To calm fears, Kirk told reporters that the state had safeguards in place that will allow Hawaii to “live with the virus,” reported Hawaiian News Now.
“We need to return to welcoming visitors to our shores,” Kirk said pointing to the 240,000 unemployed Hawaiians.
“We’re not going to see a return to a level of employment that we had before unless we open up to visitors,” he added.
Hawaii’s House Speaker Scott Saiki also tried to help calm concerns reminding the public that $90 million has been earmarked for thermal screening machines at airports, a web-based traveler information system and supplies.
Hawaiian Airlines COVID-19 Snag
Days after Hawaii announced its drop of the 14-day quarantine mandate for out-of-state travelers and set a date to welcome visitors back to the islands, Hawaiian Airlines announced resuming flights from the mainland July 1.
The day after the announcement several of the airline’s flight trainers and attendant trainees tested positive for COVID-19.
The airline was preparing to resume flights from the mainland and inter-islands after greatly reducing its service earlier mid-March when the pandemic hit the United States and shutdowns began. Flights from some other countries already declined at that point due to the coronavirus.
“Only one flight attendant worked one flight last week, prior to developing symptoms,” the airlines’ spokesman Alex Da Silva told eTurbo News, adding that the airline is taking steps to protect people who might have come into contact with the team members, are reinforcing office protocols, and is supporting its team members recover from the virus. “We have provided information about each case to public health agencies to support any notification they deem necessary.”
Southwest and United Airlines are also ramping up flights in time for Hawaii’s semi-reopening.
Opening domestic flights could help the state’s recovery, especially since international flights remain suspended. Oahu will take much of the hit along Waikiki as the beach and hotels have been popular with Japanese, Oceania, and Canadian travelers, reported the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Hawaii’s travel industry leaders have been pushing for Hawaii to open to travelers.
“We have been advocating for safe, decisive and swift action, and this decision will help to restore our economy and keep Hawaii businesses open,” said Chamber of Commerce Hawaii President and CEO Sherry Menor-McNamara, in a statement to Hawaii News Now.
Industry leaders called David’s announcement a first good step.
However, it’s a cautious first step, the University of Hawaii’s Economic Research Organization predicts a “moderate” return of visitors by the end of the year. It warned that it could take Hawaii’s tourism industry five years to bounce back from the pandemic and economic fallout.
Book your next Intrepid women-only vacation with Girls That Roam Travel. Contact Heather Cassell at Girls That Roam Travel at 415-517-7239 or at .
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