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Hawaii has decided to extend its current quarantine requirements for inbound travelers despite an existing plan to allow out-of-state travelers by the end of July, USA Today reports.
What’s happening:
- Hawaii said back in late June that it would allow travelers to visit Hawaii beginning on Aug. 1 without any quarantine requirement, according to Hawaii News Now. All someone would have to do is bring a negative COVID-19 test from the last 72 hours.
- Without the test, passengers would have to stay in quarantine for two weeks. This is a policy that’s been in place since the pandemic began, which I’ve written about before for the Deseret News.
- But Hawaii Gov. David Ige said Monday that the program won’t change until Sept. 1, moving back the plan for another month, according to USA Today.
- “We have always said that we will make decisions based on the health and safety of our community as the highest priority.”
Recent surge in Hawaii?
- Hawaii has seen a small spike in COVID-19 cases, seeing its largest single-day number with 42 cases, according to USA Today. Ige said the change in policy results from surges and spikes on the mainland in states like California and Arizona, which have seen major outbreaks in recent days.
- Ige said: “As we speak right now, the outbreaks on the mainland are not in control and we don’t believe that situation will change significantly by Aug. 1 as we had hoped.”
- The Hawaii state department of health traced 44 COVID-19 cases to a single person, according to KITV-4. In fact, 24 cases at a training program for Hawaiian Airlines were connected to 20 cases at two Oahu gyms.
- Dr. Bruce Anderson, director of the Department of Health, told KITV-4: “I don’t think anyone would purposefully expose anyone else to COVID-19, often individuals are asymptomatic and don’t know that they’re infected. This is a classic situation in which I think emphasizes treating everyone around you as though they were infected,”