Now that Gov. David Ige has announced the lifting of the 14-day quarantine for interisland travelers starting on June 16, attention turns next to when the state will take similar steps for domestic and international passengers.
Ige said at a news briefing yesterday at the Honolulu international airport that he plans to make an announcement next week regarding out-of-state and trans-Pacific travelers. They will remain under the mandatory quarantine order for the time being.
Those from out of state still need to abide by the quarantine even if they take an interisland flight after they arrive from other states or countries.
As tourism reopens, the governor said the state will want to focus on domestic locations and countries that have contained COVID-19 cases as Hawaii has and that have similar screening and contact tracing in place.
Last week, a group of business representatives led by Central Pacific Bank executive Paul Yonamine suggested that a "travel bubble" between Hawaii and Japan could be established to exchange tourists. They pointed to the relatively low numbers of new COVID-19 cases among the Japanese and their adherence to safety rules.
California, while one of Hawaii's largest visitor markets, still reports thousands of new cases weekly, which is a cause for concern, the governor said.
Ige said other economies that have opened too quickly have seen secondary spikes. Some have been forced to reimpose restrictions that had been eased.
Even if the state reopens carefully, officials expect the number of COVID-19 cases will rise once again as travel is freely allowed, so it been taking steps to prepare for increasing numbers of visitors.
The state said the Department of Health has begun training 500 new contact tracers while "exploring other screening and testing procedures."
