Changes are definitely still afoot here with regards to Hawaii Safe Travels and the rules that visitors and residents will need to comply with going forward. Exactly what will happen remains clear as mud as we await the direction Hawaii will head in next. That as the state reports half of all Covid cases ever occurred this month with 105k reported as of yesterday.
While there has been great hope that the state’s Covid problems will continue to plummet with Omicron declining, now that too is unclear. The health department said that the presence in Hawaii of the latest variant could either “slow down or delay the end of this surge.” Wow, and just when we thought we almost had a break coming.
New BA.2 variant now spreading in Hawaii.
The stealth omicron variant, BA.2, is now reported by Hawaii’s health department to be spreading in the islands. Lt. Gov. physician Josh Green confirmed that report, saying “we do have some cases.”
Gov. Ige sticks to boosters needed but what about Lt. Gov. Green?
Ige has not reneged on his plan to require boosters in the next few weeks. We reported recently that the change is expected to take effect on February 18, 2022. And there has been no word to contradict that although the official announcement has not been made.
Lt. Governor Josh Green, an Emergency Room physician, has made his own suggestions for Safe Travels changes. Green said that he would like to see travelers be required to either present proof of Covid boosters or proof of negative pre-travel Covid testing in addition to their primary vaccination.
Honolulu and Maui are on different paths.
Honolulu is dropping its restrictions on large indoor gatherings. Mayor Blangiardi dropped the 50% limit on indoor events effective today. And, at the same time, there are indications that there may be no booster requirement on that island going forward. Blangiardi said last week he has no plans for boosters to be part of the Safe Access Oahu program. Oahu’s change appears to conflict with Lt. Gov. Green’s suggestion we need to “avoid conditions of crowding.”
Maui’s program, effective last week, does require boosters to be considered fully vaccinated for purposes of indoor dining and drinking.
Harbinger “change agent” Israel plans to live with COVID and change rules again.
Until now, arrivals in Israel have needed to show a negative PCR test taken within 72 hours of flight or a negative antigen test within 24 hours of flight. Instead, Israel is poised to require only a test on arrival.
The CEO of their national airline, El Al, just said that Israel “has made a decision to live alongside coronavirus.” He went on to say that “the Western world, as well as the World Health Organization, recognize and understand that aviation is not a cause for further morbidity and restrictions on movement… have been found to be an ineffective tool in preventing the spread of the virus.”
Would Israel’s plan work here in Hawaii or just what is needed and appropriate? We invite you to add your thoughts to the discussion.
“When we really want to go for something better, we shall smash the old. Until then, any sort of proposal, or making proposals, is no more than a tiresome game for self-important people.” ― D. H. Lawrence
Anybody see the John Hopkins study on lockdowns, school closures, stay at home orders, business closures?
Literally a miniscule effect on Covid deaths. But a hige effect on econoy personal wealth and social ills.
I believe Isreal is on the right path. We will continue to chase the rabbit, that’s going nowhere if we try and mitigate the ever-evolving virus. Let us live along with it and get on with our lives. Keeping up with constant changes of mandates is more stressful than living with the virus that has such a high survival rate if infected.
Israel is not a series of islands 2,500 miles from the mainland!
Aloha, I feel like we need to let people be adults again. If you or your family are sick,don’t travel please. I think people will build immunity to covid just like other illnesses. If your health is compromised, do what is necessary to stay well and not spread viruses. I don’t think requiring a booster is necessary. Lets start getting back to normal! Mahalo
In California the mask mandate is so done with that even the mandator himself Gov Newsom, mayors of both LA and San Francisco, Magic Johnson and 70,000 of their closest friends all weren’t wearing masks at the NFC championship game in LA.
It’s time for all this Covid nonsense to end…no more restrictions, masking, vaccinations, boosters etc. This is a virus that we’re going to have to live with forever, it’s never going away ever. If you want to do something or go somewhere, then do it! If you feel unsafe about doing something or going somewhere, then don’t! It’s time we took back the responsibility for our own lives and live them how we want to.
Yup, it’s the new normal and I’m good with it. I’m so used to wearing a mask, that it’s no longer an issue. While it’s nice to see peoples’ full faces, as long as they learn to be more expressing their eyes, it’s fine with me. I’d rather see a mask than a ventilator on someone’s face. My biggest issue is those behind a mask also need to learn to speak more slowly and clearly, especially when there’s background noise.
There’s nothing normal about it… and it won’t last. just sayin’
RB
Making pronouncements does not change reality. This is still not the flu, not a common cold. In its two years it will have most likely killed nearly a million souls in this country alone. That’s more dead than in ww2 and the civil war combined. The great unknown is how it’s effects on long haul and damaged organs will weigh in the future. Declaring an end to ww2 in 1942 makes about as much sense. How has the Greatest Generation morphed into the Whining Generation.
From Google:
WWII: 75-80 million dead
Civil War: 620,000 dead
From worldometers.info
COVID: 5,697,360 dead
I’d say COVID death is way less than WWII+Civil war
Please read Paul. The number of dead Americans from WWII = 427,000 + Civil War = 620,000. You are correct. We are not at that number yet, but nearing 1 million.
Noticeably you did not comment on the main point of the post. Have we indeed become a nation of whiners throwing tantrums because we are asked to follow simple public health guidelines? Would our parents and grandparents of the Greatest Generation have said after two years of war, “I’m done with this war stuff?”
I think comparing war to the Covid virus is like apples and oranges. When someone dies in a war it’s very obvious, when someone dies in a hospital and they are tested for covid and it happens to come back positive then it’s listed as a Covid death. Why do you think that is. Is nobody dying of heart attacks, strokes, cancer etc.? I won’t get into politics here, but there’s definitely more to the way Covid deaths are being reported.
Though your observation may be correct, it wasn’t death so much as the toll that both war and now Covid takes on the human being. What I disdain is the comparable reaction to collective responsibility. In WW2 there was no question that “we are in this altogether” and that is everyone’s responsibility to defeat the enemy. Today warring camps argue about life-saving vaccines, wearing masks as if they are infringing on personal liberty.
My husband and I planned to visit to the Big Island the end of February through the first week of March. We have both had our two vaccines, but not the boosters and we hadn’t planned to have them. We have purchased our air tickets and made reservations for the PCR test prior to our arrival and needed to pay the $150.00 each up front. Now I am finding out that the Governor is requiring boosters to enter Hawaii? We will need to cancel this trip!!!
Aloha! Thank you for your daily updates. Folks, this is not that difficult. I am 69 years old and live most of the year in Maui and the rest in California. I have traveled back and forth several times and will return in two weeks. If you register with the Safe Travels site, you will be guided clearly on the path to clearance into the islands. Yes, things change…so has the virus. If you have a bunch of hang-ups and your “research” points you in other directions, it may be more difficult.