Hawaii to require 14-day quarantine of incoming air passengers [merged]

[csodjd]

In the Governor's newest (6th) order that extends the quarantine to May 31 there is some interesting language. I'm not sure exactly what it means. It says, "With respect to persons residing in hotels, condominiums, townhomes, apartments, or other multi-unit dwellings, “place of residence” means the person’s individual hotel room or unit. To the extent persons use shared or outdoor spaces when outside their residence, they must comply with the social distancing requirements set forth herein to the fullest extent possible."

I am wondering what that means with respect to, say, a TS location like Ko Olina or Hilton Hawaiian Village. The "shared" outdoor spaces... would that mean if you comply with social distancing requirements you can use the outdoor facilities of the complex? Pools? BBQ's. Whatever else the complex has to offer?

By analogy, if you have a home with a pool, the quarantine doesn't mean you cannot leave the inside of your residence, you could go into your yard and use your BBQ and pool. So is this saying the same thing about those staying in a hotel or other "multi-unit dwelling" like a TS complex?

 

[frank808]

In the Governor's newest (6th) order that extends the quarantine to May 31 there is some interesting language. I'm not sure exactly what it means. It says, "With respect to persons residing in hotels, condominiums, townhomes, apartments, or other multi-unit dwellings, “place of residence” means the person’s individual hotel room or unit. To the extent persons use shared or outdoor spaces when outside their residence, they must comply with the social distancing requirements set forth herein to the fullest extent possible."

I am wondering what that means with respect to, say, a TS location like Ko Olina or Hilton Hawaiian Village. The "shared" outdoor spaces... would that mean if you comply with social distancing requirements you can use the outdoor facilities of the complex? Pools? BBQ's. Whatever else the complex has to offer?

By analogy, if you have a home with a pool, the quarantine doesn't mean you cannot leave the inside of your residence, you could go into your yard and use your BBQ and pool. So is this saying the same thing about those staying in a hotel or other "multi-unit dwelling" like a TS complex?

I would take it to mean you can use the shared areas of the unit with social distancing.

Unfortunately all pools, hot tubs, steam rooms etc at HHV and Marriott Koolina are closed. You can walk around the resort and use the lagoon for swimming or another activity but sunbathing on sand is not allowed.

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[frank808]

I knew you were there from your previous posts. So glad you are getting to work from such a beautiful place. Was the 14-day quarantine in place when you first arrived?

I am a resident of Oahu. If I had to self quarantine, it would have been the same as staying here at MKO. The only difference is I would have food and groceries delivered for the 14 days of quarantine instead of going out and buying it myself.

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[JanT]

I didn't realize you were a resident. Well that is just too fun! You're blessed in many ways. It's beautiful there and I've always wanted to own a condo at Ko'Olina.

I am a resident of Oahu. If I had to self quarantine, it would have been the same as staying here at MKO. The only difference is I would have food and groceries delivered for the 14 days of quarantine instead of going out and buying it myself.

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[frank808]

We don't go to Honolulu to relax. We can and do relax at home and will be relaxing soon by the pool at home in our wooden private backyard. We are home bodies on Long Island from October-April with very little to do but relax since the weather is too cold and not conducive to our liking. That is why Hawaii weather is so desirable all year long. We are out everyday walking around; going to the beach, going food shoppng; going to shows, theatre, symphonies, breweries, and dinner without a car when we are in Honolulu. When the weather gets warm here next month and for the summer, if the virus wasn't an issue, we would be doing the same thing here on Long Island.

So you definitely would not like to stay out here at Ko olina then. Too far from what you want to do. It would be to quiet and boring here as occupancy is
We can relax by any of the 4 pools here but can't go into any of the them! Have to make do by using one of the deserted lagoons. The lagoons are very nice and clean. Actually the the water has been the clearest I have seen in almost 35 years.

You can walk around, go to beach and shop for food here in Honolulu now. Just can't do any of the other activities you mentioned.

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[frank808]

I didn't realize you were a resident. Well that is just too fun! You're blessed in many ways. It's beautiful there and I've always wanted to own a condo at Ko'Olina.

We are definitely blessed and lucky to be able to live here in Hawaii! We just have to deal with increased costs of living in paradise. I call it the living in paradise surcharge.

I found it cheaper to buy Marriott timeshares than buying a comparable condo here at the beach villas. Plus with a timeshare, there is the flexibility of exchanging into any of the Marriott TS worldwide.

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[csodjd]

We are definitely blessed and lucky to be able to live here in Hawaii! We just have to deal with increased costs of living in paradise. I call it the living in paradise surcharge.

I found it cheaper to buy Marriott timeshares than buying a comparable condo here at the beach villas. Plus with a timeshare, there is the flexibility of exchanging into any of the Marriott TS worldwide.

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The beauty of the condo to me is the ability to leave your stuff there, making it so easy to go. No packing. Everything down to your toothbrush is waiting for you. I've weighed that back and forth. The idea of being able to hop on a plane from California with basically no luggage, just a small carry on, get a ride to the condo, and have everything ready to go is appealing.

 

[lynne]

I agree with you on the meaning of the words in the message. However, I was in Honolulu, which is the tourist center of Hawaii, hotels and resorts started to close and the feeling of the locals that we know and speak with offen was that the Governor should shut off ALL TOURISTS COMING HERE. I remember thinking that before they start closing the hotels and resorts they should stop tourists from coming because once they get here, where will they stay? Right after that Governor Ige issued the 14 day quarantine. That is where I got the feeling from the 14 day quarantine that "it was a nice way of telling people you can't come" rather than issuing a directive to not come.

This was from March 16 press conference with the Governor "“Close the airport”, was the ongoing demand by viewers of today’s press conference, posting this to social media. When asked, the governor did not say, he was disagreeing. He said, he was concerned, but he didn’t have the authority to close the airport. Such authority is with Federal authorities."

Governor Ige did everything he could to stop the visitor travel travel into the state but could not close down the airports. Thanks to the low airfare, visitors are still coming to the islands and not adhering to the quarantine restrictions. The state is now attempting to get a better tracking procedure but it is not foolproof. Also discussed is to set up a quarantine center where all incoming passengers will be sent for 14 days when they arrive.

Most of the hotels are closed. All of the short term vacation rentals and bed & breakfasts are considered non-essential but somehow these places are still accepting visitors who are flying under the radar.

I would be a godsend if the state could open up to residents first but the influx of visitors, although small is still impacting the ability for the state to get back to a semi-normal existence. If the state opens some businesses, the visitors will come and the state will be at an increased risk again. Catch 22.

 

[Tamaradarann]

So you definitely would not like to stay out here at Ko olina then. Too far from what you want to do. It would be to quiet and boring here as occupancy is
We can relax by any of the 4 pools here but can't go into any of the them! Have to make do by using one of the deserted lagoons. The lagoons are very nice and clean. Actually the the water has been the clearest I have seen in almost 35 years.

You can walk around, go to beach and shop for food here in Honolulu now. Just can't do any of the other activities you mentioned.

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Ko Olina is too far from what we like to do during normal times that is why we love staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We were there from December 22-March 23. From the time we got there until March 7th we attending many activities and things were fine. The last event we went to was Jeff Shimabukuro at the Blue Note on March 7th. We are glad we left when we did then since the streets got more and more desolate and somewhat dangerous with less and less to do. We are also glad we caught the 2nd to last direct flight from HNL to JFK which was so empty that we had no one in our row, in front of us or behind us.

 

[Tamaradarann]

This was from March 16 press conference with the Governor "“Close the airport”, was the ongoing demand by viewers of today’s press conference, posting this to social media. When asked, the governor did not say, he was disagreeing. He said, he was concerned, but he didn’t have the authority to close the airport. Such authority is with Federal authorities."

Governor Ige did everything he could to stop the visitor travel travel into the state but could not close down the airports. Thanks to the low airfare, visitors are still coming to the islands and not adhering to the quarantine restrictions. The state is now attempting to get a better tracking procedure but it is not foolproof. Also discussed is to set up a quarantine center where all incoming passengers will be sent for 14 days when they arrive.

Most of the hotels are closed. All of the short term vacation rentals and bed & breakfasts are considered non-essential but somehow these places are still accepting visitors who are flying under the radar.

I would be a godsend if the state could open up to residents first but the influx of visitors, although small is still impacting the ability for the state to get back to a semi-normal existence. If the state opens some businesses, the visitors will come and the state will be at an increased risk again. Catch 22.

Perhaps you are correct that the Governor couldn't close the airport, therefore, his 14 day quarantine directive was the best he had the authority to do. That is why I got the feeling that he was saying you can't come here since the directive was so undisireable for visitors. Frankly, since I know how things are there now versus how they are normally are I wouldn't want to go for a $1 flight to have to stay in my room for 14 days. I guess some people are coming and disobeying the directive. I read about the couple on Kauai were arrested for violating the 14 quarantine order with a possible $5000 fine.

 

[lynne]

Perhaps you are correct that the Governor couldn't close the airport, therefore, his 14 day quarantine directive was the best he had the authority to do. That is why I got the feeling that he was saying you can't come here since the directive was so undisireable for visitors. Frankly, since I know how things are there now versus how they are normally are I wouldn't want to go for a $1 flight to have to stay in my room for 14 days. I guess some people are coming and disobeying the directive. I read about the couple on Kauai were arrested for violating the 14 quarantine order with a possible $5000 fine.

So true. We have also had instances on Hawaii island and Oahu where guests were impervious to quarantine and have been fined and in some cases sent back to the mainland.

We lived on Long Island for most of our lives before moving here almost 14 years ago. It is wonderful that you live in a wooded, open area. We lived in Northport for 20 years and watched as the family farms were sold to developers and replaced with houses. It became almost impossible to drive in the area due to traffic. We are now in an agricultural zoned area where development is restricted and the homes are far apart. We miss Long Island but not the traffic.

 

[frank808]

Perhaps you are correct that the Governor couldn't close the airport, therefore, his 14 day quarantine directive was the best he had the authority to do. That is why I got the feeling that he was saying you can't come here since the directive was so undisireable for visitors. Frankly, since I know how things are there now versus how they are normally are I wouldn't want to go for a $1 flight to have to stay in my room for 14 days. I guess some people are coming and disobeying the directive. I read about the couple on Kauai were arrested for violating the 14 quarantine order with a possible $5000 fine.

There was just a couple from Las Vegas that got caught and arrested. They were released, then checked out of the hotel that turned them in and into another hotel. Broke quarantine immediately again and there was a hunt for them. Got caught again and were escorted to airport for a flight back. Read they were being belligerent toward officers and were entitled. Officers had to escort them to plane and made sure they were on the flight.

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[frank808]

Ko Olina is too far from what we like to do during normal times that is why we love staying at the Hilton Hawaiian Village. We were there from December 22-March 23. From the time we got there until March 7th we attending many activities and things were fine. The last event we went to was Jeff Shimabukuro at the Blue Note on March 7th. We are glad we left when we did then since the streets got more and more desolate and somewhat dangerous with less and less to do. We are also glad we caught the 2nd to last direct flight from HNL to JFK which was so empty that we had no one in our row, in front of us or behind us.

Can't stay that long in Waikiki. We usually stay 4 to 5 weeks when we return from our summer vacation. Just long enough to eat at some good restaurants, take some shows in and then back to Koolina. Plus our home is 5 minutes away from Marriott Koolina.

Actually have a reservation at Lagoon from June to Aug if we are not going on our summer vacation. Luckily there was availability from June to July at HHV.

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[frank808]

The beauty of the condo to me is the ability to leave your stuff there, making it so easy to go. No packing. Everything down to your toothbrush is waiting for you. I've weighed that back and forth. The idea of being able to hop on a plane from California with basically no luggage, just a small carry on, get a ride to the condo, and have everything ready to go is appealing.

Rent a small storage unit in Kapolei for $60 a month and store your things there. Store things in a rollaway or those big plastic storage cubes.

One idea that we might implement instead of buying a home in Florida near a cruise port. Less maintenance and not having anything to worry about a vacant home.


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[Tamaradarann]

So true. We have also had instances on Hawaii island and Oahu where guests were impervious to quarantine and have been fined and in some cases sent back to the mainland.

We lived on Long Island for most of our lives before moving here almost 14 years ago. It is wonderful that you live in a wooded, open area. We lived in Northport for 20 years and watched as the family farms were sold to developers and replaced with houses. It became almost impossible to drive in the area due to traffic. We are now in an agricultural zoned area where development is restricted and the homes are far apart. We miss Long Island but not the traffic.

Where we live on Long Island is nice during this virus crisis since we can easily distance ourselves from others. We have cars to pickup food that we pre-order from Sam's and Shop Rite, have no elevators or people to pass going to and from our house, have a large private backyard with a private pool. The traffic is bad but not as bad as Honolulu. In Honolulu we were in the Hilton Hawaiian Village with elevators and passing people all the time. No car since we normally walk or take the bus. No private yard or pool. However, we usually love Honolulu because we don't need a car and there is so much going on right around us.

We have been thru KamuelaI(Waimea) on the Island of Hawaii and stopped for gas and bathrooms on the way from Hilo to Waikoloa. Nice littel town. We love the group Kahulanui and saw them at Gertrudes in Kailua-Kona on December 8th. They do a song Waimea and are from your island. Have you ever seen them?

 

[lynne]

Where we live on Long Island is nice during this virus crisis since we can easily distance ourselves from others. We have cars to pickup food that we pre-order from Sam's and Shop Rite, have no elevators or people to pass going to and from our house, have a large private backyard with a private pool. The traffic is bad but not as bad as Honolulu. In Honolulu we were in the Hilton Hawaiian Village with elevators and passing people all the time. No car since we normally walk or take the bus. No private yard or pool. However, we usually love Honolulu because we don't need a car and there is so much going on right around us.

We have been thru KamuelaI(Waimea) on the Island of Hawaii and stopped for gas and bathrooms on the way from Hilo to Waikoloa. Nice littel town. We love the group Kahulanui and saw them at Gertrudes in Kailua-Kona on December 8th. They do a song Waimea and are from your island. Have you ever seen them?

I do volunteer work at Kahilu Theatre in Waimea, or at least I did until the shutdown. We have seen Kahulanui many times. We have quite a few local musicians who are world class. They mainly tour the pacific northwest and Japan. We still have family in New York and normally visit every other year. We are on 3.5 acres here and 27 miles of roads within the ranch. The elevation goes from 400 - 3000 ft so we can enjoy differences in climate when we go to the upper roads. There are equestrian paths surrounding both sides of the development. Quite a different environment from our time on Long Island. We do miss the spring and fall weather and colors but we never had this kind of view in Northport. Staying at home here is not so bad. Thank goodness I took rustic bread baking classes in NY before moving to Hawaii. It certainly comes in handy now.

 

[amy241]

This doesn’t sound very welcoming - they are talking about ankle bracelets for tourists like they use for house arrest or a guarded location to remain while under quarantine — and these ideas are proposed for after the state begins to reopen to tourism.

Passenger quarantines aren’t likely to end once Hawaii reopens | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

When Hawaii opens up, the passenger quarantine isn’t expected to end right away.

www.staradvertiser.com

 

[Tamaradarann]

It isn't welcoming and if the more restrictive quarantine checks are implemented and continue Hawaii won't get the level of tourists that it needs to economically survive. If they implement it now, since the country and the world is still at a very high virus spread level point, it wouldn't matter much economically since most people are not ready to travel. However, if they implement or continue it in the summer which is a peak vacation time and the country most probably will be getting to a low virus spread time they will kill or delay the economic return. Mufi Hannemann, president and CEO of the Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association has the same opinion. By the way Mufi was the Mayor of Honolulu about 10 years ago. Jerry Gibson who we know personally from the Hilton Hawaiian Village also said the same thing and stressed the need for testing before people come not restrictive quarantine checks. I am in total agreement with both of them.

This doesn’t sound very welcoming - they are talking about ankle bracelets for tourists like they use for house arrest or a guarded location to remain while under quarantine — and these ideas are proposed for after the state begins to reopen to tourism.

Passenger quarantines aren’t likely to end once Hawaii reopens | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

When Hawaii opens up, the passenger quarantine isn’t expected to end right away.

www.staradvertiser.com

 

[amy241]

It isn't welcoming and if the more restrictive quarantine checks are implemented and continue Hawaii won't get the level of tourists that it needs to economically survive. If they implement it now, since the country and the world is still at a very high virus spread level point, it wouldn't matter much economically since most people are not ready to travel. However, if they implement or continue it in the summer which is a peak vacation time and the country most probably will be getting to a low virus spread time they will kill or delay the economic return. Mufi Hannemann, president and CEO of the Hawaii Lodging & Tourism Association has the same opinion. By the way Mufi was the Mayor of Honolulu about 10 years ago. Jerry Gibson who we know personally from the Hilton Hawaiian Village also said the same thing and stressed the need for testing before people come not restrictive quarantine checks. I am in total agreement with both of them.

By testing, do you mean to check for an active Covid19 infection or to check for antibodies? I haven’t had it and don’t want it. If they allow only those with some level of immunity, it will exclude me and the vast majority of people. It would be better to check for active infections. We just bought a unit at MKO in 2019 with usage to begin in 2020 and haven’t even been able to use it. This would have been our first year of use. There seems to be a negativity to tourists that the pandemic is bringing out - maybe it was always there but more pronounced now - and it makes me sad. We had a 37 day trip involving 3 islands that was cancelled. We were to depart April 24th and would be there now if not for this crisis.

 

[JanT]

Wow! Ankle bracelets? Ummmmm....I can't imagine most people will be on board with that. I understand their concern and I agree with them needing to limit infection rate, etc., but that's a bit much. They'll need to figure it out but doing something that drastic will kill the economy there.

 

[bnoble]

They'll need to figure it out but doing something that drastic will kill the economy there.

I think the point of the 14-day quarantine is to discourage any short-term tourism at all. Someone who is willing to abide by the quarantine is not going to worry about it---it's not like it would be hard to guess where they were, they are in their hotel/condo/whatever. But someone who won't may not come, and I think the frustration of having to pay to put noncompliant tourists on return flights has reached its limit. It's a conscious decision, and while I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make it, I don't begrudge the decision.

 

[csodjd]

I think the point of the 14-day quarantine is to discourage any short-term tourism at all. Someone who is willing to abide by the quarantine is not going to worry about it---it's not like it would be hard to guess where they were, they are in their hotel/condo/whatever. But someone who won't may not come, and I think the frustration of having to pay to put noncompliant tourists on return flights has reached its limit. It's a conscious decision, and while I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make it, I don't begrudge the decision.

I think it is tougher to decide when and how to let people start coming back than it was to stop them from coming. Hawaii was fairly easy to close, and is particularly vulnerable on reopening. Not many places deal with the diverse scope of people wanting to come there and the risk that poses to undoing all they sacrificed to get to where they are now.

 

[amy241]

I think it is tougher to decide when and how to let people start coming back than it was to stop them from coming. Hawaii was fairly easy to close, and is particularly vulnerable on reopening. Not many places deal with the diverse scope of people wanting to come there and the risk that poses to undoing all they sacrificed to get to where they are now.

Florida is in a similar situation (huge tourist destination) but without the island geography. I live in Florida and our state government has not really done anything effective to discourage tourism — there is no enforcement like you see going on in Hawaii. Nonetheless, there has been no talk of ankle bracelets, centrally guarded quarantine locations, etc. In some ways, Florida could take a lesson from Hawaii. i am in south Florida (think epicenter) and we have a significant number of New York tourists. One of the reasons that our infection rate is so high is that they all fled here when it became apparent Cuomo was going to need to lock down the state.

 

[csodjd]

Florida is in a similar situation (huge tourist destination) but without the island geography. I live in Florida and our state government has not really done anything effective to discourage tourism — there is no enforcement like you see going on in Hawaii. Nonetheless, there has been no talk of ankle bracelets, centrally guarded quarantine locations, etc. In some ways, Florida could take a lesson from Hawaii. i am in south Florida (think epicenter) and we have a significant number of New York tourists. One of the reasons that our infection rate is so high is that they all fled here when it became apparent Cuomo was going to need to lock down the state.

Perhaps that's why we see Florida has 5X the number of deaths per capita than Hawaii, 4X the number of cases per capita, and we see this difference in the Projections that just came out?

FLORIDA:

HAWAII:

 

[amy241]

Perhaps that's why we see Florida has 5X the number of deaths per capita than Hawaii, 4X the number of cases per capita, and we see this difference in the Projections that just came out?

FLORIDA:
View attachment 19780

HAWAII:
View attachment 19781

Oh, without a doubt, these factors are part of it. Another factor is that we have a huge elderly population and certainly that has unfortunately contributed to our death rate. I hate the fact that our governor described Florida as “God’s Waiting Room” recently.