Updating HB1286 with Hawaii legislature to the forefront. If passed, all islands would follow a single COVID travel policy.
248 thoughts on “Breaking: Plan to Eliminate Island-by-Island Travel Rules Gets Heard”
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Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel Tips » Breaking: Plan to Eliminate Island-by-Island Travel Rules Gets Heard
So we are told to follow the science? My guess is only political science to be followed, not scientific science!!!! Thank you to the Beat of Hawaii allowing us to vent. I hope the Beat of Hawaii is becoming our voice. The state health department can’t seem to get their story correct. Must be color blind. Is it visitors and residents that are spreading the virus?
Hi Mark.
Thank you. The data from the Department of Health is quite telling.
Aloha.
We are going to Kauai in a few months. We will have to spend an additional 2000 dollars to test twice, and then stay in a bubble hotel for 3 days before moving to our timeshare. We are vaccinated and this is totally overkill. If we were not staying for an extended period it would not be worth it. Please get your act together and have one rule for all islands. We love Kauai but will not continue to visit if things do not change for the better.
Mahalo!
Go to one of the other islands for the 3 days since you don’t need to quarantine. You also can stay in a vacation rental or a hotel. No resort bubble necessary. This is considered as inter-island travel so you don’t need a 2nd test.
I am not a proponent of big government, so I believe Kauai should be allowed to choose its own rules. However, they must also face their own consequences.
Should they choose to not participate in the Statewide Safe Travels plan, I expect they will indeed lose much needed revenue from tourism.
If that happens, based upon Kauai’s own decision, then Kauai should exclude itself from all government aid that the other counties might get relative to economic damage from tourism losses.
Please understand that this is not intended as punishment to Kauai, but rather a simple recognition of the consequence of its own choice.
It seems that the lack of medical facilities is being way over played by Kauai County Government. The Federal government and National Guard could and should be deployed to reinforce the medical services industry on the Island if indeed such a need becomes apparent.
All of us have the right to choice. Along with that, we have the responsibility of living with the results of that choice.
I wish the best for the people of Kauai. I hope they will make wise choices.
Agreed
Agreed. Kauai has cried about lack of medical to help. No one is in the hospital for COVID. The islands got a lot of $$ from the federal government if they needed to revamp the hospital then they should have. What did kauai do with the $$$. Homeless Situation is out of control island wide. Sad but true. Don’t keep covering this up. I have seen it with my own eyes. What is the mayor doing about that?? Nothing.
Please pass HB 1286. Mainland property owners are experiencing severe financial expenses with it almost impossible to visit or rent with the current restrictions. The lack of visitors to Kauai has severely impacted the states & individual residents financial security. Mahalo
It is high time that Hawaii state legislature imposed a single criteria for all the islands./ Otherwise the impact is negative for all the state.
I have said it before and I will say it again, Kauai’s decisions are the outcome of a class warfare carried by the well to do who do not need to work against the working people of the island. Instead of taking steps to protect themselves they are forcing the closure of the island. If you look at the authors of the opinion letters written against this bill in the garden island newspaper recently you will immediately see this. Mayor and the other government employees are in the same group. They try to achieve their goal by fear mongering. Kawakami used the death of an 85 year old (whom we learn later that had lung cancer) as an excuse to shut the island down. Most people do not know that the life expectancy of a stage 4 lung cancer patient is only 10 months, so they believed in the mayor’s lie about death from COVID. Then there was the excuse about having only 9 ICU beds- none of which have been used at all. Mayor also boasted about the success of his bubble system having graduated 1400 in 60 days- which comes to 23 persons/day. I wonder how many businesses 23 persons/day can support? I came to Kauai three times last year when the rule was the same for all the islands and had my negative test each time and stayed in quarantine for two weeks or 10 days depending on which rule was in effect. However, I will not come to Kauai if the mayor is allowed to continue to rule like a dictator.
Agreed!
Thank you! Much appreciated bringing this information to light. The mayor has gone rogue. His main goal is sports to stay open for kids. Sad but true. Kauai is being destroyed by his dictatorship. Businesses are closing. Only the huge like Costco can survive. People of kauai don’t want to file for bankruptcy but are being encouraged by the mayor to do so. And. The locals are treating the tourists that do make it there horribly. They are being threatened, harassed and told to go home. No aloha spirit there right now. But. They are learning from their mayor. Sad. But true.
retired.. enough said
BOH,
Aloha, I understand trying to have conformity fo the State of Hawaii, however, I totally understand why Kauai wants higher standards. They are a small Island and they are trying to protect their people.
I love Kauai and can’t wait to return, but if everyone is sick and can’t work or worse, there will be nothing to return to. I had to cancel a huge trip there for our 45th Anniversary. We were bringing and footing the bill for 10 family members from all over.
Please stay safe.
Mahalo
If the majority of cases coming into the Islands are coming from returning residents, and not from visitors, perhaps the differing rules should apply to those returning residents. The state now has the data. It seems to me that getting something in place for visitors who have been vaccinated should also be a priority, as a growing number of people have had the vaccine. This would open up a pool of visitors, and those of us who have family we haven’t seen for over a year, and who have been vaccinated might have a chance to visit. We canceled our March trip because of the possibility that a second test would be required (very costly) 4 days after arrival, as we didn’t want to take the chance of having to quarantine due to a false positive. This constant discussion and changing back and forth has to be confusing for not only visitors but residents as well.
Mahalo for keeping us up to date. Will follow to see what happens with the hearings.
Hi Lee.
Thanks again. We appreciate your repeated input.
Aloha.
For a state with only one primary contributor to the economy – tourism – it makes no sense to not have a uniform health policy for all travelers to the islands.
Without it, you end up with one island getting a competitive edge over another for the wrong reason, health and well-being.
Thank you for your encapsulation of the hearing. I’m curious what you think the timing is on a final decision? I watched the whole thing on YouTube, and found it hard to understand, with the leaders wearing masks. Clearly big passions on both sides, and I was surprised at how uninformed many of the committee members were of the situation.
Kawakami continues to stonewall and only speaks of their wonderful record of 1 case a week, but never mentions plans or guidelines to reopen from his “temporary” shut down.
Hi Laurie.
Thank you for all your comments. We don’t know what is next, as nothing was stated in today’s (as you said), hard to follow hearing.
Aloha.
All islands should have the same travel requirements! Period!