Our post title was the first comment we saw this morning about travel to Hawaii, and it didn’t stop there. Richard, a prolific commenter, said “As of this morning 10/23/2020 it’s been reported that 7,902 people are quarantined on Oahu. Mostly tourists who either did not pre-covid test, did not use an approved test facility, or did not get negative test results in time.”
What happens when your test results are not ready on arrival in Hawaii?
Commenter Trey later exclaimed: “We flew in 10/21, did everything by the book. Our test results did not show up until 6 hours after landing at HNL. Was directed to self-quarantine until we had results and given a phone number to call to get us off quarantine once we had them. No one answers the phone, the message says to leave personal info and they will get back to us. Have had results now for 30hrs +. Here we sit quarantined at their mercy. We have all the required paperwork and negative test results. Anyone have the magic answer so we can enjoy our time here?”
Honolulu police have issued close to 10,000 warnings and citations/arrests since October 15.
Honolulu’s mayor said yesterday that all major Waikiki hotels and the police are working together to enforce quarantine for visitors who do not have negative COVID test results on arrival in Hawaii. In a news conference, Mayor Caldwell said of those who did not clear quarantine, “If they’re not in the room then they are violating quarantine and it can be reported, warned and then cited. We were told that hotel security is actually having calls being made up to the rooms for those who need to quarantine. So it gave me some comfort to know that there’s enforcement going on because the Honolulu Police Department can’t be everywhere.”
Of the nearly 8,000 people in quarantine, actually, only about one-third are visitors and rest are residents. That means they all landed in the islands without a negative COVID-19 test result. Some travelers are awaiting results for tests while others have received and uploaded them to the state’s travel website, as is the case with Trey. Others didn’t test or tested with a non-approved source and may need to remain in quarantine.
It works well when you have it all in order first.
Regular commenter Gerhard just reported that he had no problem getting everything resolved, and that was even when coming from Canada. Here’s what he reported. “Yes, you can travel to Hawaii. Yesterday we flew from Toronto via San Francisco to Maui. At SFO walked 15 min. from Domestic to International Terminal to get tested, courtesy of United Airlines. One is supposed to have an appointment (we did have one), but they also do take walk-in/up clients who fly on United. It took about 20 Min to get the result and our papers, we uploaded a copy in PDF to the Safe Travels Site and continued our trip to Maui. There, we sailed through the controls, got our pink paper, and picked up the rental car. Even though it was a long trip, it was easy and all went well.”
Beat of Hawaii suggests.
It is best if you do not fly to Hawaii without 1) completed test results uploaded to the Safe Travels website and 2) a copy of that result also in hand. The issues of arriving after testing but before obtaining results may or may not be easily resolved when uploading results after arrival. While doing so should release you from quarantine immediately, that isn’t what visitors are reporting as of today.
How has this worked for you?
Beat of Hawaii © photo on the Big Island.
Hello,
My reason for coming to Hawaii is to see my family; although Hawaii is a beautiful state. I need a non stop or one stop if possible from Rsw to Honolulu . I am TSA; my daughter her husband and 2 boys with 1 girl- I am Nana traveling. I am Nana.
I have Covid shot card. And I have been told to sign something and load up. I don’t know where. Would you please send me a link if possible?
I would appreciate your help.
BelindaW
Hi Belinda.
You need to follow the rules of the Hawaii safe travels program. The website your are looking for to upload proof of vaccination is https://travel.hawaii.gov. Also refer to the rules found at https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/travel-overview/ which includes testing protocol for children.
Aloha.
Does anyone have any tips on how to download my Covid19 test results from an approved testing site to SafeTravel Hawaii? Any information will help.
Aloha from Princeville! My husband and I arrived yesterday morning from San Jose, CA. We each took two tests as an insurance policy: one at Kaiser (we are members) and another through Vault. We each received our email confirming negative results exactly 30 hours after our Zoom spit session. My Kaiser results were returned less than 24 hours after testing; my husband’s took 48 hours. We had an early morning flight direct to Lihue (fly direct to your final destination, if possible, even if you pay a higher airfare) and landed about 45 minutes ahead of schedule, just around 11 am. It’s a time this point you’ll need patience as you’ll have no control over how many other flights have landed around the same time. We were very fortunate and there was no line to show our identification, QR codes, Ndola negative results from the Safe Travels website. We were seated in row 8 and there were approximately 8 agents waiting for us. It took less than a minute for us both to receive our green tickets and proceed to baggage claim. Even better, airport staff had removed all the luggage from the carousel and lined it up neatly, making it much easier for us to find our bags. Airport eerily quiet; better than better than normal traffic through Kapa’a.
Just wanted to update our latest Travel from the Mainland. My wife flew over yesterday 11/5 with no issues and was cleared at the airport in a very timely manner . She received her test through Walgreens using the Rapid testing (result in a couple of hours). The last time I commented, the question came up questioning if the rapid test issued by Walgreens met the Hawaii NAAT requirements. I’m happy to report now, it does.
I also did testing on the island, I tested at Wilcox in Lihue. I was picked from Safe Travel. We are guests on the island, and everything we can do as guests protects the islanders.
We leave Friday for the Big Island. Got a confirmation from Hawaii Dept of Health that the POC from Walgreen is molecular and is approved by them. Get our tests tomorrow and pray all goes well from there.