Breaking News: Hawaii will officially be reopening for national and international tourism on October 15th. Read all the details on Hawaii Reopening For Tourism Here
Original story continues.
Hawaii will be officially be reopening its for tourism starting on August 1st, 2020.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced there will no longer be a 14 day quarantine but travelers will be required to bring a negative Covid-19 test completed within 72 hours before arrival.
Mainland and international travelers who do not produce a negative test result will still have to quarantine for 14 days.
The 14 day quarantine order is expected to be in place until at least July 31st, 2020.
Violating the order can lead to a fine up to $5,000 and a year in jail.
While acknowledging there are still concerns regarding mass tourism, Ige said his administration hopes that pre-testing will work the way it has in Alaska.
The state is expecting the test measures will allow Hawaii to welcome visitors without a rise in new COVID-19 cases.
“We believe this process of pre-testing does allow us to bring travelers back to Hawaii in a way that maintains a priority on the health and safety of our community,” the Governor said.
Travelers must be tested before arriving in Hawaii as testing will not be available on site.
Ige administration noted that test results from any CLIA-certified lab would be accepted
Originally Lt. Gov. Josh Green hoped the state would be able to open for tourism by July but the date has now been pushed back to August 1st.
With most of Hawaii’s 242,000 unemployed workers tied to the tourism industry, the push to reopen the state in a safe manner has been a priority.
The hotel industry has asked the state for assurances including access to personal protective equipment that will help shield them from the coronavirus, more training and a guarantee that everyone who has been furloughed or laid off will have a job to come back to.
“Somebody could get sick and it would blow our industry,” Eric Hill, financial secretary-treasurer of the UNITE HERE Local 5 union, told Hawaii News Now.
“So, everybody in the industry has to adopt high standards. Low standards for safety should not be acceptable in Hawaii. That will destroy the long-term viability of our industry.”
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Joe Kowalski
Wednesday 29th of July 2020
We have a 13day, 4 Island vacation with YMT Vacations scheduled for departure on December 2, 2020. The Hawaiian Governor David Ige said that a plan was being developed with a mainland pharmacy chain for quick turnaround for pre trip testing. Is a 72 hour turnaround a possibility. My Doctor has told me that only First Responders could be Quick Tested.
stu
Wednesday 1st of July 2020
you can not get your test results back in3 days and sometimes you dont get a written test at all
Ashley
Friday 26th of June 2020
Well, if our Greece plan falls apart in August, it looks like Hawaii just might be our back up!