81 thoughts on “As Kauai COVID cases Skyrocket, What Comes Next”
Steve A.
Based on Last December’s decision to shut the Island down with fewer cases than there are now, who can predict what the Mayor Kauai will do next? I had to cancel my plans last year despite willing to get tested.
Will Kauai require me to get tested in December 2021? or will a Vaccine passport be good enough? Will they suddenly shut down the Island once again because 7 people have covid? There are more cases today and yet the Island is open to travel?
I’d really like to be there – so much so, that I’m willing to plan a trip to a place where I have no idea if they will let me in.
Mike
I watched his news briefing… basically, in a nice way, he said, ‘Be responsible or get Vaccinated.’ I think he finely sees the big picture…
Most of your questions have unknown answers currently… BUT, you can always check the Hawaii Covid web site for current restrictions if ya wanna go…
Beth C.
Following
JohnW
After all the precautions working so well for so long and the vaccines effectiveness starting to help I guess it’s understandable there are going to be people letting their guard down. We are so close to getting enough people vaccinated to prevent these clusters but sadly there are still people making dubious claims to try and undermine a vaccine that is safer to take then walking down the street. No you can’t force anyone to take a shot but you can and should restrict unvaccinated people from jobs with a lot of public contact or from large gatherings.
Best to BOH, I know you guys are on Kauai so this must be disconcerting, hopefully the contact tracing will be effective to stop further spread.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi John.
Thanks. We appreciate your 200 comments to date!
Aloha.
Angel
Aloha Everyone..
If COVID is considered a virus and these cases are community, how can they name two restaurants like they did here as the source? That to me is not fair to the business!
Praying for the lull in cases for Kauai and all over Hawaii!! ❤️
Heather
My husband, daughter, son-in-law, and myself, are traveling to Kauai in September, and we can’t wait! It’s my daughters first time visiting Kauai. We are all fully vaccinated and are tested weekly at the minimum (we are nurses and EMS). We are all working hard to keep ourselves clean and healthy so we can safely travel in September! See you soon, and thank you!
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Heather.
We’re glad to hear you’ll be coming to Kauai this fall. Have a great time and please let us know how it goes.
Aloha.
TJ
I think the question of the extreme lock down of Kauai needs to be questioned. Is it possible that the other islands are doing better than Kauai, in terms of positive Covid diagnosis, because Kauai was forced to follow such rigid stay at home laws for so very long? I would think that the other islands are doing better because they allowed their residents to come out of hiding and gain some immunity by being exposed to the virus a little at a time. Also, its quite possible that being kept in doors and away from friends and family has helped derail the once strong immune system that people had prior to Covid.
I’m certainly glad that the new cases aren’t coming from visitors. That would be a shame. My family and I are looking forward to our trip to Kauai this coming June. Our trip last year was cancelled. I hope that the mayor doesn’t stop travel to Kauai again. I don’t think we would give it a third chance if he did.
Thank you so much BOH for walking us through every painful step of the pandemic lock down. You kept us all aware of what was going on, on the islands the entire time. I’ve always recommended your site to my friends for up to date travel. Personally, I believe that the state of Hawaii owes BOH a debt of gratitude. BOH is definitely responsible for helping to restart the travel industry in Hawaii. If it hadn’t been for you, I’m certain that tourism would have been much slower to restart. Many of my friends know that my family and I are frequent visitors to the islands. Lately I’ve received multiple calls from friends and friends of friends asking me to help them navigate the process of traveling to Hawaii. I always direct them to the BOH website for reliable, up to date information. Everything a visitor needs to know is right here. The links to Go-Hawaii and other Covid related links makes getting ready to visit Hawaii much more easy to navigate.
Aloha & Mahalo!
TJ
Beat of Hawaii
Hi TJ.
Thanks for those nice words! We definitely have heard from officials, but there hasn’t been anything nice about it, unfortunately.
We should know more about the situation soon, but clearly, it isn’t the visitors that are the source of the current problems.
Aloha.
Tom B.
Well our long wait is almost over. My wife and I were vaccinated 10 weeks ago and had a negative Covid test today. So Wednesday we hop on the plane for Kauai. Can’t wait!!! We arrive Wednesday May 5th and are staying until June 11th. This is our every other year vacation and have kept our plans since we made them last April. Lots of golf, hiking, swimming, sailing the Napali Coast, tubing, Kayaking, etc. everything outdoors and distanced as we can from others. Kauai feels like home to us and we miss it. As for Covid, I tend to agree with a lot of the folks writing in, that your best defense against it is to stay as healthy as you can, get vaccinated and hope for the best. We’re going to continue to live our life, not give in to all the fear mongering.
Love the updates from BOH. Keep up the great reporting. Aloha and Mahalo!!!
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Tom.
Thanks. We appreciate your comment and wish you a great time on Kauai.
Aloha.
Shar
We have been on Maui and this week Kauai……both over age 70, have had 2 COVID vaccinations and have tested negative twice. I believe this is probably true for most visitors, so don’t think we’re bringing the virus. Hopefully the new meds to fight COVID are helping. Glad to be here. Thanks for your site. Watched it months before we traveled.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Shar.
Thanks. Have a great time on Maui!
Aloha.
Nancy
Hi Guys,
Thanks for good reporting. Long time no see. I have been noticing an increase in Covid in areas of the world with high vaccination rates. What percentage of residents on Kauai have been vaccinated? Thanks for some unbiased stats on Hawaii. This is new to everyone and we all want to get to the bottom of this. Take care and keep digging for the truth for our beloved Hawaii!
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Nancy.
Good to hear from you! Hope all is well over there.
We haven’t seen a percentage, but rather the county says it has administered over 50k doses.
Aloha.
Joni
Having just returned from Kauai and our home there, we became aware of several Kauai residents who don’t plan to get vaccinated. Is there a way to require residents to be vaccinated if they come into contact with travelers, who have been tested and have been vaccinated. I think it is very good news to know that no visitors have tested positive for Covid.
Thanks.
Beat of Hawaii
Hi Joni.
Not as far as we know. That is up to employers, perhaps.
Aloha.
Goldie C
You can not force vaccinations on anyone, especially a vaccination that has only received Emergency Usage Approval. This current surge of cases has nothing to do with visitors traveling to Kauai, it was “community transmission”. As a resident of Kauai, I am opposed to mandatory vaccinations as well as the proposed Vaccination Passport.
Mike
That is correct… You have a right to ignore a vaccination that actually works. Also, you have right to get infected and infect your friends, family and neighbors. But…. Most people are being little more practical and considerate.
Kimberly T
You can’t require someone to get a vaccine that’s not approved. Frankly, no one should be forced, regardless. Why should anyone have to put something into their own body just to make others feel safe? Those who come to the island vaccinated shouldn’t be concerned and those who don’t, clearly aren’t. Its not selfish. Its a personal choice. Forcing people to do something against their will is NOT a road the people of this country should ever want to go down. Its a recipe for disastrous consequences.
Andy M
The idea of forcing residents to get vaccinated is ridiculous! What do you want next?
Comments are closed.
Aloha!
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Based on Last December’s decision to shut the Island down with fewer cases than there are now, who can predict what the Mayor Kauai will do next? I had to cancel my plans last year despite willing to get tested.
Will Kauai require me to get tested in December 2021? or will a Vaccine passport be good enough? Will they suddenly shut down the Island once again because 7 people have covid? There are more cases today and yet the Island is open to travel?
I’d really like to be there – so much so, that I’m willing to plan a trip to a place where I have no idea if they will let me in.
I watched his news briefing… basically, in a nice way, he said, ‘Be responsible or get Vaccinated.’ I think he finely sees the big picture…
Most of your questions have unknown answers currently… BUT, you can always check the Hawaii Covid web site for current restrictions if ya wanna go…
Following
After all the precautions working so well for so long and the vaccines effectiveness starting to help I guess it’s understandable there are going to be people letting their guard down. We are so close to getting enough people vaccinated to prevent these clusters but sadly there are still people making dubious claims to try and undermine a vaccine that is safer to take then walking down the street. No you can’t force anyone to take a shot but you can and should restrict unvaccinated people from jobs with a lot of public contact or from large gatherings.
Best to BOH, I know you guys are on Kauai so this must be disconcerting, hopefully the contact tracing will be effective to stop further spread.
Hi John.
Thanks. We appreciate your 200 comments to date!
Aloha.
Aloha Everyone..
If COVID is considered a virus and these cases are community, how can they name two restaurants like they did here as the source? That to me is not fair to the business!
Praying for the lull in cases for Kauai and all over Hawaii!! ❤️
My husband, daughter, son-in-law, and myself, are traveling to Kauai in September, and we can’t wait! It’s my daughters first time visiting Kauai. We are all fully vaccinated and are tested weekly at the minimum (we are nurses and EMS). We are all working hard to keep ourselves clean and healthy so we can safely travel in September! See you soon, and thank you!
Hi Heather.
We’re glad to hear you’ll be coming to Kauai this fall. Have a great time and please let us know how it goes.
Aloha.
I think the question of the extreme lock down of Kauai needs to be questioned. Is it possible that the other islands are doing better than Kauai, in terms of positive Covid diagnosis, because Kauai was forced to follow such rigid stay at home laws for so very long? I would think that the other islands are doing better because they allowed their residents to come out of hiding and gain some immunity by being exposed to the virus a little at a time. Also, its quite possible that being kept in doors and away from friends and family has helped derail the once strong immune system that people had prior to Covid.
I’m certainly glad that the new cases aren’t coming from visitors. That would be a shame. My family and I are looking forward to our trip to Kauai this coming June. Our trip last year was cancelled. I hope that the mayor doesn’t stop travel to Kauai again. I don’t think we would give it a third chance if he did.
Thank you so much BOH for walking us through every painful step of the pandemic lock down. You kept us all aware of what was going on, on the islands the entire time. I’ve always recommended your site to my friends for up to date travel. Personally, I believe that the state of Hawaii owes BOH a debt of gratitude. BOH is definitely responsible for helping to restart the travel industry in Hawaii. If it hadn’t been for you, I’m certain that tourism would have been much slower to restart. Many of my friends know that my family and I are frequent visitors to the islands. Lately I’ve received multiple calls from friends and friends of friends asking me to help them navigate the process of traveling to Hawaii. I always direct them to the BOH website for reliable, up to date information. Everything a visitor needs to know is right here. The links to Go-Hawaii and other Covid related links makes getting ready to visit Hawaii much more easy to navigate.
Aloha & Mahalo!
TJ
Hi TJ.
Thanks for those nice words! We definitely have heard from officials, but there hasn’t been anything nice about it, unfortunately.
We should know more about the situation soon, but clearly, it isn’t the visitors that are the source of the current problems.
Aloha.
Well our long wait is almost over. My wife and I were vaccinated 10 weeks ago and had a negative Covid test today. So Wednesday we hop on the plane for Kauai. Can’t wait!!! We arrive Wednesday May 5th and are staying until June 11th. This is our every other year vacation and have kept our plans since we made them last April. Lots of golf, hiking, swimming, sailing the Napali Coast, tubing, Kayaking, etc. everything outdoors and distanced as we can from others. Kauai feels like home to us and we miss it. As for Covid, I tend to agree with a lot of the folks writing in, that your best defense against it is to stay as healthy as you can, get vaccinated and hope for the best. We’re going to continue to live our life, not give in to all the fear mongering.
Love the updates from BOH. Keep up the great reporting. Aloha and Mahalo!!!
Hi Tom.
Thanks. We appreciate your comment and wish you a great time on Kauai.
Aloha.
We have been on Maui and this week Kauai……both over age 70, have had 2 COVID vaccinations and have tested negative twice. I believe this is probably true for most visitors, so don’t think we’re bringing the virus. Hopefully the new meds to fight COVID are helping. Glad to be here. Thanks for your site. Watched it months before we traveled.
Hi Shar.
Thanks. Have a great time on Maui!
Aloha.
Hi Guys,
Thanks for good reporting. Long time no see. I have been noticing an increase in Covid in areas of the world with high vaccination rates. What percentage of residents on Kauai have been vaccinated? Thanks for some unbiased stats on Hawaii. This is new to everyone and we all want to get to the bottom of this. Take care and keep digging for the truth for our beloved Hawaii!
Hi Nancy.
Good to hear from you! Hope all is well over there.
We haven’t seen a percentage, but rather the county says it has administered over 50k doses.
Aloha.
Having just returned from Kauai and our home there, we became aware of several Kauai residents who don’t plan to get vaccinated. Is there a way to require residents to be vaccinated if they come into contact with travelers, who have been tested and have been vaccinated. I think it is very good news to know that no visitors have tested positive for Covid.
Thanks.
Hi Joni.
Not as far as we know. That is up to employers, perhaps.
Aloha.
You can not force vaccinations on anyone, especially a vaccination that has only received Emergency Usage Approval. This current surge of cases has nothing to do with visitors traveling to Kauai, it was “community transmission”. As a resident of Kauai, I am opposed to mandatory vaccinations as well as the proposed Vaccination Passport.
That is correct… You have a right to ignore a vaccination that actually works. Also, you have right to get infected and infect your friends, family and neighbors. But…. Most people are being little more practical and considerate.
You can’t require someone to get a vaccine that’s not approved. Frankly, no one should be forced, regardless. Why should anyone have to put something into their own body just to make others feel safe? Those who come to the island vaccinated shouldn’t be concerned and those who don’t, clearly aren’t. Its not selfish. Its a personal choice. Forcing people to do something against their will is NOT a road the people of this country should ever want to go down. Its a recipe for disastrous consequences.
The idea of forcing residents to get vaccinated is ridiculous! What do you want next?