Hawaii Reopened: Some Places Have Visitor Restrictions + New Kauai COVID

It has been five days now since Hawaii reopened, and gratefully, it has been largely without problems.

Mostly due to pent up demand, returning residents, family visitors, and those wanting to be first back to Hawaii, over 31,000 visitors have arrived here in Hawaii since Thursday, according to the state. Of those, two-thirds were in the visitor category. Were you among them?

This week we should see more realistic visitor numbers, given that last’s week’s were much higher than anticipated for the reasons we stated.

How is reopening going so far?

Lt. Gov. Josh Green said, “The Safe Travels opening has been successful so far. We’ve tested almost everybody. Anybody who didn’t get a test went into quarantine.

Reality Check: We are hearing that Hawaiian Airlines did not have same-day testing set up in time. Some of you went to CVS and were not able to get test results back before your flight which has resulted in quarantine. Many are frustrated. Read below for what could be a remedy.

Trusted partners? Tests from many other sources were accepted through Sunday.

As shown in hundreds of comments on Beat of Hawaii, there has been huge frustration about the trusted partner testing program. Yesterday, the governor said that a temporary exception had been given for confirmed negative PCR tests from sources other than trusted partners in order to avoid massive quarantine numbers.

The state said that yesterday (Sunday) was to be the end of the grace period and we have not heard any further details. The state is hoping to add dozens of new partners as quickly as possible, to ease this testing roadblock.

Lieutenant Governor Green explained it like this. “In the first four days of the program, we have worked with all of our travelers… (who obtained a) nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT) from a proper lab partner they believed was acceptable. This provided a minor grace period for some people with a gold standard negative PCR test, who were confused about the new process… They had tested negative. Those who got no test or a substandard test were placed in quarantine.” He said now, however he “expected” only trusted partners tests to be approved.”

Starting today, the state has also announced eight testing parters for interisland travel not in conjunction with a simple change of flights.

We’ve seen visitors at Costco and other places, and their talk is interesting. Normally we overhear discussions of favorite beaches, or activities. But this weekend, we heard talking about airport protocols and testing companies.

Some places say no visitors allowed.

We were surprised to learn that some establishments are saying no to visitors at this time. Commenter Bobby just said, “Did you see that there are multiple restaurants in Kauai now banning tourists from their dining rooms? I am canceling my November trip. Shame on Lighthouse Bistro in Kilauea and Saenz Ohana Breakfast in Princeville. Way to spread Aloha.”

Beat of Hawaii: We also see Verde restaurant doing the same (see image below). The policy at some restaurants is that you can only do take-out or delivery (no dine-in) if you have traveled outside Kauai in the past 14 days (inter-island or transpacific). So this policy would also apply to locals in that category. If you have seen this on other islands too, please comment.

Whether this is a coincidence or not, Hawaii restaurants just received a huge financial boost. A new program just launched to which provides Hawaii residents who received unemployment during COVID with a $500 prepaid debit card for use at restaurants for food, non-alcoholic beverages, and tips, here in Hawaii.

The Hawaii Food Industry Association spokesperson said, “We’re happy to see any program that supports the struggling food industry companies and helps to drive some traffic to our struggling small businesses and restaurants.”

To date, an untold number of Hawaii’s nearly 3,000 restaurants have permanently shuttered. The industry has long anticipated last week’s reopening to bring returning visitors and help restaurants return.

Beat of Hawaii: Last week on Kauai, we saw the Shops at Kukuiula mostly open but the Poipu Shopping Village mostly shuttered (including their Starbucks). It is a reminder that if you have a favorite restaurant or activity provider on any island, you may want to contact them before your trip to see if they are open for business and have any special requirements for visitors.

What you will always find open are the spectacular beaches, amazing hiking trails, timeless ocean, and memorable sunsets.

Two new COVID cases on Kauai raise concerns.

It was reported this weekend that there are either one or two confirmed cases on Kauai. Visitor David B. said, “Coconut wireless reports that a Wainiha (Kauai) woman traveled to Oahu for a funeral, returned home with said virus, and gave it to husband. Neighborhood freaking out, had a big “free testing” event yesterday. Well, they can’t blame it on pre-test tourists ….”

Kauai is participating in the pre-testing/no quarantine program but has a separate ruling in effect that if there are five active cases, the island will again shut down. Given that COVID comes in clusters, as appears to be the case with these two now, we don’t see how this will remain viable. Time will tell. See all about Kauai’s rule and your comments in Will Kauai Visitors Risk All and Return With This Looming?