Last week, Hawaii’s governor reinstituted a mandatory 14-day quarantine for all interisland travel that was removed in mid-June. The quarantine went into effect today, August 11, and is set to expire on August 31. There are many questions about how this is set to work and how well it will be enforced. This comes in response to ongoing increases in the number of new cases reported daily, especially in Honolulu.
It appears this will become a major setback in the goal of reopening Hawaii travel, which had been scheduled for September 1. That date now seems far less likely.
The interisland quarantine will help close the big loophole which we have noticed ourselves here on the outer islands, and that has been mentioned repeatedly by us and others. Former Hawaii news reporter Angela Keen was quoted saying, “Once you’re on a neighbor island flight, you’re not a tourist anymore, you’re a resident, and you’re treated as a resident, they’re not checking if you’ve quarantined.” Some visitors have reportedly posted this behavior on social media following their “quarantine vacations.”
Revised regulations and questions.
The new quarantine is through August 31, whereas it was previously set to be through September 4. This allows it to coincide with the tentative plan to open travel with pre-testing starting September 1.
Travelers arriving in Honolulu (from the outer islands) do not need to quarantine. But those going to any other island location do. So for example, those flying from either Honolulu or Maui to Kauai will be quarantined.
Exemptions are available for medical and other limited situations of travel necessity. It isn’t clear yet what other exemptions may be available. Those must be requested in advance of travel. Some work-related travel may be permitted without quarantine. Everything is still vague even to those in the travel industry, and we hope to have it clarified soon.
Honolulu beaches and parks closed.
Honolulu has the great majority of Covid cases in Hawaii. The governor indicated last week he believes that group gatherings are to a large degree responsible for the most recent increases.
From August 7 through August 31, all 300 Oahu parks will be closed as will county beach parks and state beach parks (ocean activities are allowed and restrooms are open). Parking lots will be closed. This does not impact the other islands, only Honolulu.
Honolulu botanical gardens will be closed as will tennis facilities and pools. Golf courses will remain open. Team sports are suspended. Bowling alleys and arcades will be closed. Fitness facilities will be open but no group classes will be permitted. Museums and art galleries will remain open. Hiking trails will be shuttered.
Honolulu Mayor Caldwell said the county will be doing ramped up enforcement including a new Covid hotline and increased strategic enforcement. Warnings that were previously issued will now be replaced by citations and arrests, according to Susan Ballard, Honolulu police chief.
Upcoming announcement on September 1 reopening.
Governor Ige said last week that an announcement will take place this week regarding that plan. It was supposed to allow for the elimination of quarantine for those who test negative within 72 hours of travel. We firmly expect this to be postponed again, however.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
On the bus island kona is a mask mandatory when out an about
Hawaii Tourism Authority website has a post that as if 8/11/2020
Allows trans pacific travel as if 9/1/2020 with a negative
Covid test within 72 hours of boarding and no quarantine with negative
Results. Can you verify
That post has been there since the August 1st date for reopening was postponed and the post date is changed each day and will be until a new announcement is made.
Has anyone heard when Gov. Ige plans to speak again on the reopening. If so, please let us know. Thank you.
Hi Jim.
We will be updating the site as soon as we know more.
Aloha.
Let this sink in…tennis courts, beaches, pools and hiking trails CLOSED! Yet art galleries, museums and golf courses are open. What in the world are the Hawaiian officials thinking? Ill bet costco and walmart are open too!
I will sadly be canceling our 3rd set of reservations and will instead focus and hope for July 2021. Prayers for the Hawaiian islands and people.
Thank you Beat of Hawaii, excellent information as always!
Jan
Hi Jan.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Thanks for keeping me updated
Hawaiian family on Oahu.
Hi Marianna.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Glad to see this. Is this painful for some people? Absolutely. But it protects ALL people. Sweden, and much of the US, have learned that life as usual leads to deaths. When we value our life and the lives of people around us we understand the obvious choice to be inconvenienced and alive.
🙄 If we needed to protect ALL people, then your point would be valid. Ignorance really is bliss. When they take all of your individual rights, it will be too late to pull your head out of your…errr, the sand.
You are tasked with identifying those in your family (Mother? Father? Sister or Brother? Child?) that you deem expendable. Please share those names (first names, only!) here; we’ll wait.
Yet again, thinking deeper 🤨… if you are a fool and infect your own family and neighbors … you have stolen ALL of their so-called ‘rights’, FOREVER.
Deeper thinking always survives reactive emotion.
Signed – Unkah K., (da kapuna kahuna;)
You’re absolutely right and sadly the people of Hawaii are too brainwashed to understand this. Ige, Green and the Island Mayors are like little Draconian Dictators. All they have done is fear mongered for 6 months and taken away rights and freedoms. Welcome to the Socialist State of Hawaii.
Life as usual leads to virtually no deaths. The survival rate is over 99.5%. The damage to families and businesses is far far greater.
This won’t be the last thing that comes along. Are we going to shut the country down every time? This is beyond irresponsible
I agree with Robbos! The “individual right” to not get sick has to take precedent.
Can visitors still use VRBO rentals during their quarantine?
Yes, however, you are not allowed out, you must order all your food to b delivered
Put Violators name in public view, with fines charging, also do same with all DUI violators, violators should do community service, cleaning cities sidewalks, 4 hours service, with a dust pan and broom, must wear white disposable clothing with large words ( law violator ) on the back. this people will be watched and supervised, by Police Officer.
Im all about staying safe, this is particularly difficult for me. I used to live on Oahu, and I am supposed to fly September 1 to see my daughter who will give birth soon after that, I’ve had to reschedule 4 times. I guess I’ll see baby at some point…
A point which is missed, is that most visitors from out of state have checked bags. Checked bags show the route and correspond to the PNR which displays the itinerary of the passenger. Checks could be made against baggage on leaving the baggage area at neighbor islands. Very easy to do and does not require lots of people or expensive equipment. at Lihue they use to check every bag against bag tag to stop theft so it is nothing new. If you have started your journey elsewhere and you have not registered details back you go to HNL and they can have a cell block there for returnees. You will never catch everyone but you can make life more difficult for the selfish.
Lots of opinions floating around how to resolve this dilemma- “open up the islands and economy”; “shut everything down until the virus is eradicated”; “Governor Ige is the problem”; “no plan”; “the virus is not any worse than the common flu”; “there is no national leadership”….. Every state Governor, indeed even national leadership, has wrestled with the problem of either taking drastic action to contain or eradicate the virus, versus the economic impact such measures would have. So, in their best efforts, leaders are trying to strike a balance of some sort, level off the number of new cases while not totally destroying their state’s economies and thus people’s lives. Some states have been more successful than others to be sure. But those so dependent on a single industry, such as Hawaii with tourism, are being impacted the most. Other countries are having the same issues. In my humble opinion, there is no one answer for every state or nation except possibly this: leaders will have to continue to weigh their actions to contain the virus versus the impact those actions will have on their local economies. The current situation will not end until a vaccine is developed and distributed. Gov Ige’s lack of a plan, as some have stated, is a hollow argument since any plan will ultimately not succeed until the vaccine is available.
Aloha Bob,
You said, “Gov Ige’s lack of a plan, as some have stated, is a hollow argument since any plan will ultimately not succeed until the vaccine is available.”
The hollow argument in your statement is that you really have no clue what will succeed, since you’re not involved in any process like this. Frankly, it’s a “hollow opinion”, just like most of the frustrated comments here, including some of mine.
But, if you actually do some research, you will find there actually are some areas that have been relatively successful and by FAR, especially in comparison to Hawaii. Considering all the false information that’s been perpetuated from the beginning, including the legitimacy of the actual (accurate) death toll, frankly, it’s amazing that anyone could be successful. However, Hawaii (and Governor Ige), has done nothing to even attempt to solve their impending economic disaster, and it’s the “Local People” (and likely the rest of us, should they petition for the Feds to help) that will pay the price for his ignorance and incompetence. That’s the cold, brutal, and honest truth…
Makes no sense if you have a negative test before flying to stop tourists from coming…we wear KN-95 masks everywhere we go and that would include our trip to the Big Island…
Attention Hawaiian Airlines! I expect a full refund for my September 2-13th flight! 😆 Is that too much for me and several others to ask for?! Feel horrible for the native islanders and what years of liberal policies have done to your paradise!
JW
This is a loss to the residents of Hawaii and to those of us who would rather be there than on the mainland.
Perhaps the true solution is the 30 minute rapid Antigen test at Hawaiian airports.
The Emirates use this test prior to flights.
In California these tests cost about $150.
The White House uses these tests on a regular basis.
This is probably all we have until there is a vaccination.
Holy moly.
That’s all I’ve got.
Mahalo Beat of Hawai’i 🌺
Stay safe everyone.
Hi Pam.
Thanks. Have a good weekend.
Aloha.
It is not true that once you are on a neighbor island flight you are not a tourist. if you come from the mainland to Oahu and you are continuing on to a neighbor island you have to fill out two quarantine forms. One for entering the state another for going on to another island. The second form may be filled out online and a QR code is sent to your phone. You must go to two locations at HNL terminal. A person goes over the appropriate form and calls your phone to ensure it is correct at each location. You then proceed to the interisland terminal, go through security and then your flight. You then proceed to your quarantine location. The next day we were contacted by the Covid Hotline again explaining the quarantine terms and restrictions (for the third time). We just did this last Friday and are just finishing the first week. The Covid Hotline contacted us today to make sure we were not experiencing any symptoms.
Any death from covid is blood on the hands of the governor. Businesses can fail, people can lose their jobs and homes, but all that can be blamed on Trump or federal government. Any death associated to covid due to opening the islands to tourist will be blood on the governors hand. That’s why the islands won’t open to tourist until there’s a viable vaccine in place.
Those in leadership of Hawaii have proven to be a complete and utter failure in handling this situation. For a state that relies so heavily on travel to show this lack of creativity and preparedness is astounding. The damage being done to businesses and the stress and mental health challenges that this puts on families far exceeds any damage and risk from Covid. This is really disheartening. Positive tests are nearly irrelevant. Many of those will not get sick or only minimally so. The survival rate from this virus is an extremely high 99.6%. Open things up!
Ron …you are 1000% percent correct. The mortality rate is over 98%. They seem to be doing this to intentionally destroy our lives.
Well stated and I agree Ron K!!!!!! Science needs to guide the poor leadership in Hawaii rather than fear and hysteria. Science says quite the opposite than Governor Ige’s decisions! This has gone on long enough! The dominoe effect of Governor Ige’s decisions will be far worse than the virus itself.
To those saying why react to a spike in cases, when most people don’t get that sick- The bans were put back in place when hospital leaders informed the a Governor they are now operating at max capacity, no empty beds, and they have concerns about staffing shortages.
This was in response to hospitalizations, not just cases.
Thank you for trying to help others understand the bigger picture/concern that the Hawaii medical community is facing, Krista. So many people just focus on the number of Covid-19 deaths, when our medical community needs to maintain its service to patients with other serious health concerns in addition to providing the general populace the preventive health care from which we all benefit.
Aloha Ron,
Actually in Hawaii, the death rate is .0018% (1.8 per 100k people), which makes the survival rate 99.9982%…let that sink in! 😳
Would it be higher, should they open to tourism? Well, possibly? However, this disease is spreading even with most people wearing masks, and the overall death rate percentage has remained pretty constant from the beginning. Why aren’t they talking about that? Hmmm…🤷♂️
Totally insane to ruin these islands and the good people of Hawaii over a virus with a 98%+ recovery rate. It ain’t going anywhere so better learn how to live with it or be prepared to stay sheltered forever. Better yet, get to the polls.
I’m there 😉
You are right dump trump
As a part-time resident “stuck” here since March, I’m happy to be safer here on Hawaii Island than CA. I love being cautious and caring about island population. My heart aches for job and business losses however. We need to be kind, mask up and stay distant. We will get through this!
On Tuesday Aug 2 I had a Covid19 PCR test in Los Angeles County and had online results in 12 hours (negative). That quick turn-around, at least, is encouraging w respect to visiting Hawaii. I used satellite UCLA family health center. Your mileage may vary.
Hiking trails, out in fresh air where it’s easy to distance, but museums, open where crowds can gather inside??? THAT doesn’t make sense at all.
Thanks for the info…my wife and i are scheduled for a month from 9/25 tp 10/24 at waiohi on Kauai…i appreciate any info you can send regarding same.
Hi John.
We’ll keep you updated as soon as we learn more.
Aloha.
So sorry for the small business owners and their establishments I visit annually excluding this year. I am sure as we say in the South “ thru will belly up.” Thanks to the Governor.
Looking less and less likely that i will be visiting in January. I have until mid October to cancel with no penalty..but with so much uncertainty And anti tourist sentiment I think i will go elsewhere.
So why are the airlines still selling tickets from here the west coast to Hawaii ??? Just to get our money then we are stuck
Yes.
Great question!!!
Nancy D
Cash flow! Anyone that has owned a business knows that cash flow is more important then profits.
The airlines are playing a Ponsi scheme they are taking your ticket money to pay bills if your flight is canceled they try and stick you with a worthless voucher. Then restrict how you can use the travel voucher.
Hopefully you are not one who gets caught with a worthless voucher if your airline goes bankrupt.
In the corporate world it’s called “Good Business”.
This could be the last nail in the coffin. What a shame.
Aloha, I have a Hypothetical question: Please tell me how many fatalities have actually been traced to Tourist? External Blame for an internal problem, and the decimation of the economy continues! How truly sad, and there are many tourist who will NEVER return. There is no Aloha in destroying any human beings business, lively hood, and self esteem through an unfounded cratering of an entire industry! If the Governor is really serious about stopping the virus, lock EVERYONE DOWN, shut down EVERY industry, and apply all rules universally! Pitiful, truly pitiful! My heart aches for the lovely people of Hawaii who are ignorant of the pernicious evil that is being foisted on them.
Every fatality can be traced back to somebody coming to the Islands for elsewhere unless you subscribe to the idea that virus originated in Hawaii.
HAL M you are correct. but that’s also true for California, New York, Texas or any person that has contracted the virus outside of Wuhan China.
You are right. I have Samoan family in the Big Island. I love them dearly but I watch there videos etc. no one is wearing mask. Even when they are out and about.
Aloha Nancy,
There have been no deaths at all, on the Big Island, only 123 cases county wide since the beginning, and I believe there have been only a couple New cases recently, after checking the Big Island Now Covid page (linked below). Hawaii County has never been problem at all. and with around 200k people, it has roughly a .06% infection rate…that’s a 99.94% probability that you won’t even catch the cooties/virus, let alone die!
Agree. A friend who lives on Oahu doesn’t respect the governor at all…before the latest!
❤️
What a surprise that Hawaii Refuses to pull itself together. Im sure all the intelligent tourists that made plans a year in advance To visit hawaii will be even more thrilled now as thier plans are dashed for the rest of the year and beyond.
Covid 19 hotline? How about 1800 no aloha. Vote out your lame duck officials. Give it a rest in the hawaiian gestapo police patrol which clearly aims to harass and fine tourists.
Take a hint from California and other democratic states. Treat all people fairly in hawaii and quit it with the anti American bs! Get off your butt and do something!! Enough is enough, hawaiians are the problem not the covid. They never can get things moving or follow through on anything – i should know i lived there for several years. Its a disaster in the making. Really sad
I wish people would just go to the beach and stop these extended family gatherings,Ban Tents.We do not want a beach ban again.
I’m really confused…. I have ticket to come home to Hilo end of month, of course it connects in Honolulu since no o stop to Hilo, is transit through Honolulu considered interisland???
Aloha Hmar,
The issue being discussed in this article’s thread is travel between islands, irregardless of where you travel from. An Inter-island transfer is the same as any inter-island flight. Previously, travel between the islands was allowed without a 14 day quarantine (from back in June). Travelling from the Mainland has not changed, so you will have to do a 14 day quarantine at your final destination, coming from the mainland. At least until September 1st, and that will probably be extended.