If you’re visiting Hawaii in the near future, or at the holidays, this news is critical.
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331 thoughts on “CVS Pulls Out Of Hawaii Testing | Vault + Others Overwhelmed”
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If you’re visiting Hawaii in the near future, or at the holidays, this news is critical.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
Good morning
Is Quest Diagnostics Lab still a trusted partner? I’m flying from Florida but not until July 2021
Thanks for your assistance
Hi Craig.
No they are not, effective 11/22.
Aloha.
How long will the testing requirements last? We have a wedding planned in June and e don’t want our guest having to do a COVID test just for our wedding?
Dawn,
There is no way of knowing how long a testing program is going to be in place because we have no way of knowing what is going to happen with regards to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If this is a concern for you, I’d suggest getting married someplace other than Hawaii if you’d like guests not to have to test prior to travel!
Congrats on your impending nuptials.
Just saw that Mayor Caldwell suggested the testing facility at the airport might be able to help travelers “in a bind.” I know my elderly parents would appreciate that as their stuck on layover because their test results came back after 72 hours.
Have you heard any more about that comment?
What if, a traveler proves they took the test but their results aren’t yet back, so they are allowed to pay to take a second, rapid test at the airport and quarantine until both test results are back? Gives passengers an incentive to get their original test results in time so they don’t have to pay for two tests. But it also gives a solution to anyone “in a bind” from the an overwhelmed lab.
Paul,
Your posting about your parents situation continues to come off as entitled because you take no responsibility for making the choice to travel during a pandemic. While I completely understand you are sad and frustrated about the safes travels program not working for you but you accept that risk when decided to try and participate.
While Mayor Caldwell’s “in a bind” airport testing program must be a solution for future travelers, it isn’t a golden ticket to solve your parents situation. If the mayor chooses to submit a formal proposal to Governor, it is taking him a lot of time to decide if he wants to implement the rules change.
Here are your parents options and you can choose which is best for your family:
1) Do a rapid test in Seattle, receive the negative results and rebook them on a flight to Oahu leaving within 72 hours of that test
2) Have them fly to Hawaii and be subjected to the 14 day quarantine
3) This because from the way your original post reads it implies they live in FL; have them return to FL. Maybe they can try to participate in the Safe Travels Program again when the countries COVID testing capacity isn’t so stressed because of the rise in cases and needed medical testing.
Hope you are still able to have a meaningful Thanksgiving with your household and that you all remain safe and healthy but the best way to make that happen isn’t to have gatherings outside your immediate household and not to travel. And making those sacrifices now will actually ensures a greater chance of everyone being at your 2021 Thanksgiving gathering!
You know what the answer is? Don’t come. Just don’t come now. Do take your vacation in the middle of a pandemic to islands that don’t have great medical facilities. How is that so hard to understand?
Preach Tita D, Preach!
Much love to you and your family this Thanksgiving!
Only selected Walgreens have the rapid Covid tests. You need the rapid NAAT one for Hawaii. We did it two different days and each time last week got the test results emailed back within a couple hours. When making an appointment for your test on the Walgreen’s site, I found in our area, the new appointments (usually 3 days out) opened up in the late afternoon to early evening. I hope this helps.
I think most are missing the point! The rules were changed mid-game by elected leadership. It is not the testing partners.
We used vault to come over on Oct 15th, had our results before our flight took off. (Took test on a Monday had results Wed night).
Since the Governor and other leadership changed testing protocols, that led to the only major testing company CVS to opt out. And everyone else had to go to other partners causing them to be overwhelmed with demand. CVS is doing the right thing as a company and providing service to all that need it and not catering to Hawaii and IGE. And the ones that need it the most are mainland folks that are going thru another spike. They need to be tested to go back to work, see loved ones, etc. The governor put CVS and all of you in a precarious position when he changed the rules without advice or counsel from his own legislature, or circle of advisors and business leaders.
Thanks MD for your comment, it’s a viewpoint many people on this site need to hear!!
Glad that you were able to participate in safe travels program when it opened in October..
Wishing you and your family a safe and healthy Thanksgiving!
Tese article are very informative please keep them coming. Thankbyou so very much
Hi John.
Thanks. We appreciate that.
Aloha.
Thanks so much for this update. Walgreens has an ID NOW test offered only at select locations that is approved and gives results within 24 hrs. Just have to make the appointment 3 days advance. For example, I was able to book a Tues test the Sat before. This is for the mainland. Hope this helps.
I do NOT recommend Vault Health- my test is still in transit in supposed “overnight air” and will not be back within the 72 hour window. I had to cancel my flight. I drove 2 hours to Oakland airport CityHealth and was able to get a 24 hour test and reschedule my flight. I highly recommend CityHealth- they were awesome!!! Unfortunately this process was so stressful we will not be planning travel back to Hawaii in the near future. We really want to be able to support the economy in a safe way, especially since we have family on the islands, but there is too much uncertainty. The state of Hawaii needs to approve more testing partners— there are so many reputable, CLIA approved labs that run PCR COVID tests. Limiting to the small list is too restrictive, and unfortunately is overwhelming the testing partners and is difficult for the majority of people to access.
Jen, you’re completely right.
If you want to support Hawaii, stay home in the middle of a pandemic. We have limited health care, period. What is so hard to understand about that. I wish people would STOP saying they are coming to support our economy, you’re coming for a vacation…period. We don’t need tourists right now, we need to heal because numbers have gone through the roof on outer islands. I hope people with just stop being selfish and then proclaiming they are “helping our economy”….because that is crap. Anyone with good sense would not be getting on a plane in the middle of a global pandemic.
Kaiser cannot guarantee results in 72 hours. We were told it may, and probably will, take up to 5 days! We will most likely have to quarantine, even though we followed the protocol and gave ourselves plenty of time to get our results back in time. So frustrating!!!
Seems like west coast travelers are the only ones attempting HI travel at this time. All of the HI testing partners are west coast. CVS and Walgreens are available where I am (Denver), but with CVS scratched, that leaves Walgreens, which currently offers symptoms-only (non travel) testing due to spiking cases. Had to cancel our trip.
Not sure what you’re talking about. You can absolutely schedule a Rapid test with results being ready within 24hrs. You have to catch it at odd times of the day, but you can definitely get an appointment. For example, it’s currently Wednesday, Nov 25th and there are plenty of open spots for Saturday, Nov 28th for the Thornton location
Much mahalo for canceling your trip. During a global pandemic is not the time to travel to Hawaii. We only have 300 ICU beds for the entire state so please considering coming back when we aren’t in the middle of a pandemic. Right now a lot of things are closed anyway so you wont enjoy it as much. Please dont play around with our lives.
We had no problem with Walgreens in midwest on Sunday. Option available to us was the Rapid Diagnostic Test (ID NOW) – Abbott Labs NAAT. Appointment only, two days in advance. Walgreens stated on website that results back within 24 hours, but this empty Walgreens store must now be a lab. Results back in an hour. HI accepted and we arrived last night. Gratitude because testing in certain areas getting more difficult.
We will be returning from Georgia. Not many options available to us. I hope they will approve the rapid test.
Rapid Diagnostic Test (ID NOW) from Walgreens was accepted. It was a Rapid Point of Care NAAT. Information can be found on there website.
Just stay home, Jesus… what is this selfish mindset about vacationing to a secluded chain of islands with limited healthcare capacity. Don’t come to Kauai for sure.. we have all the selfishness we can handle for a while and 9 ICU beds. We are blessed our mayor has asked to completely opt out if this safe travels nonsense …. There are no safe travels during a global pandemic. There is no aloha right now.
Do be cautious about Wednesday travel to Hawaii since testing can be done on a Sunday but cannot ship out with UPS Air until Monday night. Our stat service gave us results in the early hours of Wednesday am once our first leg of travel was completed within the continental USA.
Which service did you use? I have a Wednesday morning departure as well and have the Vault tests in hand
Thank you! still missing in this list is Quest. We strongly recommend against using them. We took our test with them two weeks ago, and by the time we were ready to board our flight, we called them and discovered that our tests hadn’t even been sent to the lab yet. They couriered them over, but it ended up taking about 80 hours. We spoke to a number of other travelers who also ended up in quarantine because their quest results took three to five days to come back.
CB…
Quest Diagnostics has opted out of the Trusted Partner program. They are still on the list but if you click on them, you will see that notice.
The Grandparents are stuck in Seattle tonight traveling from Florida to Honolulu.
Their CVS test results weren’t in time to make their connecting flight, came in just a few hours later, about 75 hours after testing. They have an appointment with Carbon Health now and will be stuck in Seattle for Thanksgiving until those results come back.
We would love to fly them out tomorrow, but their test results will be 4 days old and now unacceptable. The Safe Travels website did not accept the test results, pops an error that says “Outside 72 hour window” instead of “COVOD-Negative”.
This is a terrible change to an effective program. It was carelessly implemented right before a major holiday. Now my 75 year old parents won’t get to see the keiki until after the holiday.
Paul,
I get your you are sad and frustrated but your family choose to take the risks associated with travel during the pandemic. Your family won’t be together for the holidays because of the testing snafu but many families aren’t gathering together for this holiday to try and help slow the spread of COVID which your family isn’t by having a non household gathering and traveling across the country. Also be thankful your parent’s are among those not taken by COVID-19 whose families now have that void at their households Thanksgiving table….
Just a different way to look at things….
PAUL G…
This whole thing is one sad mess. And BTW, don’t plan on Christmas or New Years. What is a bad situation now will be even worse when testing facilities don’t work full time.
Trying to understand for our future flight, Were your grandparents not able to take the flight w/o their test results or could they have taken the flight and be stuck in 14 day quarantine?
Tested with Walgreens 80 hours ago and still haven’t gotten my results back, I had to do another test at the airport with the Kidney Foundation Hawaii and it took 5 hours. This is the very best for inter island travel and I highly recommend it. $125 and it am very happy. Thank you for keeping us updated
Hi Nancy.
Sorry to hear about the delay but glad it worked out in the end.
Aloha.
We ordered two tests through let’s get checked for travel on American airlines to Hawaii to visit my daughter who’s stationed there in the Navy. the problem with the new system is that you have to get tested get the results back in hand and travel within a 72-hour time period which is almost impossible. We received our tests and they are set up to not be able to be activated until the 72-hour window starts, but the problem is the airline changed our second flight to 4 hours earlier but we couldn’t take the test 4 hours earlier we still had to wait for the original window for when I purchased the tests. I called let’s get checked but they were unable to change the activation schedule. We took the tests at the first scheduled time which was 5:00 p.m. eastern time and had set up a pickup through UPS between 6:00 and 7:00 p.m. UPS never came to pick up the packages. I called UPS they said they had tried but we’re unsuccessful. I was outside waiting at my front door from 5:45 p.m. until 7:00 p.m.. no one from UPS ever came. Numerous phone calls realizing that no one would help me I drove down the road to the UPS facility nearest me and waited for one of the drivers to come back and handed my packages to him and pleaded with him to try to get it overnighted so that I could see my daughter which I haven’t seen in almost a year now. I’m not sure if it’s going to reach its destination in time to get the results back in time but I still have hope. If my results come back too late then I would be forced to quarantine there for 14 days even if they come back negative which doesn’t make any sense. They should have left it the way it was.
Thank you for your daughter’s service to this county in the Navy.
However, the changes to the State’s travel program were needed for a few reasons:
1) Removing the administrative burden form the state who was having to clear a large number of travelers participating in the safe travels program from quarantine once the negative test results were received
2) For people waiting for testing results, they had to make changes to their plans for accommodation, transportation etc because the some of state’s and county’s quarantine restrictions don’t all for vacation rentals or car rentals for people in quarantine status
3) The issue of people receiving positive tests after arriving in Hawaii. These people have to find a place to quarantine and could possibly be putting additional stress on the county’s limited healthcare system should they need medical attention.
While they aren’t perfect and make it more difficult for travelers interested in participating in the safe travels program, they are improvements in making the program safer and run more smoothly.
I truly hope that things work out for you!
We had our tests done on Nonday and flew on Wednesday. The company was Carbon Health in Portland. Results in a few hours. Their mobile lab was set up outside the Alaaka Airlines terminal. Cold Outside, but very easy.
And US Biotek? They are here in Portland, guarantee results in 36 hours.dy No recommendation? I already have an appointment.
Carbon was super easy. They are known to cated just outside the Alaskan Terminsl at PDX. We had our results same day.
Wow! The typos. Located outside the reeminal
aloha and happy Thanksgiving to all !
more than anything we want the people of hawaii safe and healthy.
we want to comment on everyone’s posts about all of hawaii travel stresses and headaches
we have ohana in oahu and a timeshare in kaanapali,maui. we visit twice a year.
like a lot of people we have canceled a trip “home” for thanksgiving and now a march trip is looking shaky at best.
we want what is best for the hawaiian people during this horrible pandemic.
for us the complex testing travel rules are so confusing and frustrating.
we’ve read all of the travel rules stories here and it is difficult and scary for anyone trying to do the right thing and being healthy and getting tested before departure.
sorry to say but to gov.ige and the state rules, the rules are age discrimination because alot of senior citizens like us do not have very good computer,tech skills for all of the downloads,pcf files needed etc.
do we need a stanford computer engineering degree to understand and do this correctly ??? not everyone regardless of age is capable of these rules expected.
sorry but it is heartbreaking to think we won’t see our ohana for a year from now.
please stay safe and healthy, we need to stay strong and we’ll be able to go home to hawaii as soon as possible.
Aloha,
I’m going back to Honolulu from SAN Jose on 12/2, I tried but no hope can book any test appointment in my area.
If no test done, can I board the plane, just quarantine 14 days after arrive ?
we live in Coeur d’Alene Idaho and 30 min due west from spokane. cvs is not an option, quest diagnostics only site that was a previous testing option is 7 hours away, but we have 8 labs between Coeur d’Alene Idaho and Spokane, Washington. Walgreens has only 1 red dot rapid pcr test site and can’t an appointment let alone a mum and her kids. oh yes btw Quest diagnostics doesn’t do your children. Non of the others are with in 7 hours drive south 5 hours west over Snoqualmie pass and were in winter. its ridiculous trying to comply. Dead in the water with no ears. Hopefully they will allow clia labs not just a few designated.
I’ve seen tests from free to 250.00
oye vey
Hi Carla.
Yes oy vey is right. Do you already have air reservations? Otherwise, Seattle testing is looking like a much more reliable option.
Aloha.
CARLA G…
BTW, Quest Diagnostics is no longer a Trust Partner. They opted out because they couldn’t meet the criteria. They are still listed but if you click on them, you will see that notice.
Folks, please I think with this news and the Mayor of Kaua’i asking to opt out, requiring a 14 day QURANTINE as of December 1. I really hate to say it that this news from here and Dr Fauci’s pleading for people to stay home means we need to hunker down again. Not like before but close.
This is going to be devastating to our Kaua’i economy but we had our first death. 9 ICU beds on our little island. 70k people. 2 degrees of separation.
As you consider and weigh your options think of this:
If you come to the island and get sick (you can go 3 or 4 days before symptoms or not at all) you will not leave the island sick!
The Hawaiian Islands are the most remote archipelago in the world. We will be here. Happy Thanksgiving everyone
That’s all well and good. How about making it manditory to refund all money for reservations made prior to this! Or park reservations until next year. We saved for years for this trip and that money is gone! And we are Covid free with a test from a major hospital but not one who has signed some back door agreement with Hawaii. Paid more money to test at CVS (recommended/trusted partner). Results not back in time. If Visitors were not allowed to come, with no fault of thier own, their money should be returned. Simple as that.
Aloha thank you for keeping us up to date.
Do you have latest information on Alaska Airlines testing?
They originally said testing would be available at San Jose airport on November 1st.
Thank you
Hi Krista.
No we are not finding any update on that.
Aloha.
My family was supposed to travel to Hawaii on the 24 of Nov. We had negative test results from our university hospital in Augusta Ga on Sunday the 22. However that hospital was not a “trusted partner”. So we went to CVS when we found out our initial test was not valid. Of course CVS did not get our results back before our flight departed. The Total cost of the new policy cost is over $5000. Thiis policy is insane and the cost to common people immense.
Most of those test sites are only in the west coast.Now that CVS has pulled out and Walgreens no appointments where on their list in New England / Massachusetts is an approved test site?
Walgreens has 2 tests. The Rapid POC ID Now test in 24 hours.
walgreens.com/findcare/covid19/testing?ban=covid_vanity_testing#!
I’m traveling to Hawaii from the lower 48 states. What do I need to do?
The state of Hawaii requires visitors to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival or provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test, taken within 72 hours of departure. You must schedule an appointment with Walgreens to ensure your documentation is accepted by the state. The Rapid Point-of-Care (POC) Test (ID NOW) and RT-PCR Diagnostic Panel provided by Walgreens are nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT). Both types are approved by the state of Hawaii, however the turnaround results time may vary. If you do not receive your results before your trip, follow the pre-travel requirements on the Hawaii Department of Health website: hawaiicovid19.com/travel/getting-to-hawaii/ to understand quarantine requirements. For additional information about Walgreens as a trusted testing partner visit: hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/.
I forgot to add Mahslo. Great site and informative.
Hi Burgess.
Thank you. Back to your question, probably the best and safest answer we can provide is to refer you here. The State of Hawaii maintains a travel helpline that can be reached at 1-855-599-0888. Let us know how that goes.
Aloha.
Thanks for your reply. My error. I cut and pasted from the Walgreens site (FAQ) and it was posed as a question . I should have edited it out. I appreciate your swift follow up. This is a stressful issue for many folks.
What date/time is shown on proof of the COVID test results to be given to airlines to board? Is it time of actual test appt or time the testing on the sample is performed?
My husband and both used CVS, however we could not book appointment together. We tested at 2 different locations on the same day within 2 hours. My husband got his result in 48 hours. I have not received my results from CVS, therefore I spent another $200. And 5 hours in line for a test at AFC. Results were back in 15 minutes. We have loaded all our information and results into the Hawaii travel.gov site. Hopefully we won’t have any additional issues tomorrow am for our flight…
What is AFC?
We’ve traveled to Kahului and beautiful Maui for the last ten years, but this one. We wanted to experience our first Kalikimaka island style, but with all the confusion, the constant changes, the ever evolution of the requirements we’ve opted out. Our condo has expressed concern about how many cancelations they’ve had in just the last few weeks, many are not even attempting to reschedule next year. We understand safety, we understand that islanders want to be healthy. We also understand that many of our acquaintances and friends on the island are very sad, getting poorer and some are plain exasperated at where their next meal will come from. We hope that by next year, all will be perfected and eventually things will go smoother. Our motto for 2020 now is: Maybe next year. Aloha to all our friends and be safe.
We are a family of 8 plus inviting 3 friends joining us in Hawaii 2 days after Thanksgiving. It has been an absolute nightmare trying to get tested. With TG in the middle of our 3-day window, all mail-in and 72-hour tests were ruled out. The only provider anywhere near 3 of us was Walgreens. So we had to figure out the exact moment when the new appointments opened up 3 days prior to our flight and hope we could get in there to book them. My daughter has to drive 90 minutes for her appointment which is exactly 24 hours before her flight leaves to hopefully get a 24-hour-results test. All other appointments were already booked after we realized CVS was not going to work for her which was down the street. I had to book her a hotel then to await her results before her flight takes off early the next day. My husband and I are traveling 30 miles tomorrow to the only location in our entire locale of 350,000 to offer a timely test. I hope this all works. Most of us have already had covid so from a scientific standpoint this is a complete waste of time. We have immunity and so not only can we not get it again, we can’t infect others either. At this point you have to be very determined to go to Hawaii. Most people I know cancelled their Hawaii vacation plans due to the complexity of jumping through all these hoops.
Glad to hear your have recovered from your first bout of Covid and sincerely hoping your aren’t on of the people you get re-infected!
Maybe all of the trouble finding a testing site for your large group should have been a tip off that you should have joined the the rest of the people you know and canceling your trip to Hawaii for 2020! Also, I hope that the COVID tiers stay the same on the island your are visiting because if not your group of 11 could be in violation of some county’s COVID emergencies rules….
Best of Luck with your travels!
I’m on a plane to Hawaii. Vault didn’t answer any calls or emails for three days. $600 for 4 tests arrived 2 on time and two after our original flight took off. We stayed at the airport with our little kids until finally 4 hours later and 1 hour away from original touchdown Our two other tests arrived. We had to cancel long planed lower fare tickets, cancel hotels , car rentals and buy expensive last minute tickets to a different island. Whoever made that policy should even run a lemonade stand. We did everything as we were told to, all negative and still got hurt from this not to mention all the business that lost our $$
I am a resident of Oahu in Kapolei and traveling to our 2nd home in Utah. We need to know a Hawai’i partner in Ogden Utah area to get a COVID test to return to Hawaii. Our return to Hawaii Oct 18th we used Ogden Intermountain Health care and received a test and results within 48 hours to return to Honolulu. We were waived using QR code since the lab was not a partner of Hawaii.
Can you help with were to get an approved test in Ogden UT!
We are scheduled to arrive this Sunday. Our 72 hour window begins thanksgiving day. With this in mind, we decided to get the vault test, when we learned that receiving the result after arrival would be just fine as long as if we quarantined until we received it (before this latest change).
1. Vault’s price dropped from $150 to $119 and they’re not responding to a request for a refund of the difference/price match. Nevertheless, being that we paid for it, we may as well use it as a backup to Walgreens. Hopefully, they’ll refund us the $31 per test. But, I won’t hold my breath.
2. When we happened to stumble upon the policy change, we stalked the Walgreens site – we’re in Chicago – to find out when they opened up slots for what days and determined we had to be on the site by 6pm, yesterday (Monday), in order to get an appointment scheduled at one of the few locations that offer the acceptable rapid NAAT tests on Friday. We were successful and should be fine with this result.
It causes a lot of anxiety, hoping we’d snag an available spot from two different phones/apps. But, it was a relief when we were successful. We are not letting this get in the way of our well needed escape!
Please HELP!
I’m leaving from SoCal on 12/2 @ approximately 6:30am, arrive in Honolulu @ 1:10pm to clear my dog through the pet quarantine & than a flight @ 7:45pm to our final destination, Maui. Do I just need my test results before I board the final flight to Maui??
I’ve been trying to follow along for a while now, but I’m so confused!
I have an appointment @ Kaiser for 10:30am on 11/30 & I guess I’ll just keep my fingers crossed that the results are fast?? The person that scheduled my appointment said, 2-3 days! I did tell her it was for travel to Maui.
Thanks for always providing great info. I think I’m confused now, I can’t imagine how lost I’d be without your updates.
Hi Jeri.
You need that negative test result for arrival in Honolulu. Let us know how it goes and if there’s’ anything else.
Aloha.
You need 2 QR code’s. One for into Honolulu and ONE for flying into Maui. Trust me!
Aloha, Sorry to say but you might want to book a back up test. I know it’s another expense but you have to be there to meet your dog. Go into Walgreens site at 5pm mountain time and get the rapid POC by ID Now. 24 hr turnaround. Just a suggestion. Mahalo and be safe.
People you are not being logical about testing. If you want quick results to your test, join a pro sports team or become a politician. It’s all about money and status, not travel!!! Mahalo
Sitting here at the infamous Bistro in Kilauea. Word is that Kauai will opt out of the safe travel program on December 1. If true, this will be a sh*t show.
Rumor adjusted. Our mayor Kawakami has asked Governor Ige for permission to opt out. Political posturing??
Just a follow up from yesterday. My daughter did her test with CVS. She went to LAX as her flight was in the afternoon, hoping to get them in time. United would not even let her check in without results.
Her flight left, 1 1/2 hours later, negative results arrived.
Had it been one day earlier she’d be here.
The leadership in this state jumps around so much, last minute changes at a moments notice. The airlines and visitor industry will not survive. People are discouraged and done.
I have just taken the Kaiser test for travel on Thanksgiving. Results received one day later. However, I am having trouble getting the results into the format Travel Hawaii requests. Specifically, getting all the info they need into just one page. If anyone could help please.
Hi Josh.
Great you got results so quickly. Hopefully, someone will give us a hand with your issue.
Aloha.
Hi Josh– We just got back from Hawaii, and we also got our tests at Kaiser. Initially I was concerned about the instruction to get it on to one page… but no need to worry. Just upload the pdf doc and the Hawaii Safe Travels system will read it. Make sure it is pdf copy (use print option on Kaiser site). Hope this helps.
–Joni
Just stay home!
Yes,agree with Joni. “Print to PDF” is your friend. Then upload the PDF.
If your results get stuck in pending for more than 10-20 minutes, upload a second time. Typically will instantly update from pending to COVID-NEGATIVE which means you’re good!
It would seem that if Hawaii wishes to have traveler’s arrive reasonably Covid-free than they need to work with all the suppliers of appropriate tests. They also need to establish, with the providers, a guaranteed time of response. The responsibility, and perhaps even some dort of fiscal penalty, goes with it. The test must be taken, say between (say) 60 and 72 hours of scheduled departure for the trans-Pacific flight. The lab MUST provide results to both the State of Hawaii and the traveler. Positive tests that are provided before takeoff result on non-travel. Positive tests after takeoff require appropriate quarantine.
Aloha,we were scheduled to fly to Maui for a week then to Kauai for a second week,prior to Christmas. We have elected to cancel this trip due to the continued changes and uncertainty. We love Hawaii, and don’t want to miss a trip as we go every year but it seems that this is the best choice for us and Hawaii. Once things are back to normal we will resume our time in the islands. Maybe the islands need this time to heal and not get all the traffic from all over the world as they don’t have the resources to combat this virus. Just some thoughts. God bless you all. Mahalo
Hi Dave.
Thanks for letting us know.
Aloha.
Good call Dave, as of 6 pm Hawaiian time it was announced that Kauai is requesting to opt out of the Safe Travels program effective December 1st. After that date everyone arriving on Kauai will have to quarantine for 14 days.
Mahalo Dave for considering Hawaii and the consequences of further positive cases. This is the wisest post that I’ve seen from a sensible and valued traveler. Hawaii seems like a safe place to be, yet it will soon be overwhelmed like the mainland if we continue to have irresponsible travelers flying in. Bless your heart.
Dear BofH,
Thank you for your update on Covid-19 testing partners for travel to Hawaii. There’s at least one missing and it’s the one I had hoped to use. It’s Capstone for travelers from Alaska. I would appreciate any information that you can publish.
Thanks
BT
Hi William.
Their website says they only have 3 locations doing Hawaii travel testing and that they return results in “24-48 hours in most cases.” We suggest you make sure before relying on them right now. Also, note that they are running limited hours over the holiday periods.
Aloha.
Question: We currently have reservations on both Oahu and the Big Island. We plan to stay 5 days on Oahu, and then go to the Big Island. Will we need another test prior to our departure to the BI, or will the one 72 hrs. prior to departure to Oahu suffice? This is so confusing. I’m glad we have you as a resource to help us through the mess.
Hi Lee.
Thanks. Yes you will need to test again while you are on Oahu. Here are the specific rules: https://coronavirus-response-county-of-hawaii-hawaiicountygis.hub.arcgis.com/pages/travel. And if you scroll down on this page https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/ to the headline STATE OF HAWAII: INTER-COUNTY TRUSTED TESTING PARTNERS, you’ll find your testing options.
Aloha.