Hawaii Governor and Lt. Governor spar about when Safe Travels can be modified to eliminate Covid testing.
94 thoughts on “Keep Your Testing Plans For Now | Hawaii Retains Safe Travels Protocols”
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Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel Tips » Keep Your Testing Plans For Now | Hawaii Retains Safe Travels Protocols
Thank you for this update. It sure would be nice if these two politicians would get their stories straight before making announcements. Our family is traveling to Maui on Saturday, and we had hoped to avoid the testing requirement, based on last week’s news.
The Governor sure seems to be moving slowly. I’d like to keep residents in Hawaii safe from infections, but I’d also like to see consistent and accurate news from the state government. Isn’t the Lt. Governor a physician? Shouldn’t the Governor be utilizing his medical expertise in this decision-making process? The dysfunction is very public, and it’s not a good look.
Oh well. We went for testing at Walgreens today, which was easy. We’re fully vaccinated, and we feel great. This confusion just added a little anxiety to our week as we prepare to travel.
I love Hawaii and heartbroken that I have not been there in almost two years. I appreciate the need to be careful on the islands and will wait to visit once everything returns to normal. It is the only way to fully enjoy what Hawaii has to offer. Thank you and please be safe.
With all the reports circulating around the recent changes and speculations being thrown in the mix it can be very confusing. I’m happy to have you guys staying on top of these travel issues for all us!
As a reminder, the vaccination exemption program is allowed and in affect for travelers vaccinated in Hawaii. However, there are issues going on that will not allow you to upload your vaccination card to Safetravels portal. Those people who are eligible and are trying to use this exception are instructed to carry their card with them and will be dealt with at the Hawaii airports upon arrival (per yesterday’s DOH Covid-19 State of Hawaii portal. The airlines aren’t real clear on what’s going on with these issues either as the agents at Hawaiian air in San Jose Ca. told us on Monday to bring our vaccination cards with us and deal with it at HNL this coming Sunday when we arrive. (We were both vaccinated in Honolulu when we were here in March.) See you soon, I hope!
Thanks again for your BOH updates!
Hi Bob.
Thank you. Have a great time. We hope your travels go without a hitch.
Aloha.
And again… another reason I’m still avoiding travel to Hawai’i at all for the foreseeable future. It’s just refreshing flying around the mainland and landing in all these fully opened cities. Life is getting back to normal on the other 49 states.
Travelers need advance notice to order test kits such as Vault health for example. Sometimes the actual flight dates need to be set at times that allow the 72 hour requirement to be satisfied. Therefore it would be better to pick a date certain such as August 1 whereby you can be reasonably sure that the 60 percent requirement will be reached, rather than a last minute change the moment the 60 percent level is met. This will allow travelers to make reasonable plans in advance without worrying about the vaccination rates. Also it is not helpful to keep getting mixed messages from the Governor and lieutenant governor only confusing matters further.
the governor is an idiot. Practically everywhere else in the country is open. Hawaii, like it or not, is dependent on tourism dollars. Travel restrictions need to be lifted otherwise the local economy will continue to suffer.
Completely agree with you Andy! I’m on the Big Island vacationing and it’s residents are scared sheep. They are outside with masks on and they obviously listen to their government here and not and scientific recommendations. I’m from Florida and yes we have a high rate of Covid but travel is booming back home. I guess Hawaii wants the federal government to bail them out and they don’t want their people working. They should just open things up and stop pushing tourists away. They may never get to 70% vaccinated. Not everyone believes they should get the shot!
Tracy Y,
In case you haven’t read the news, Hawaii is currently back to near pre-COVID levels of tourism, and it’s even causing shortages. So please stop with the “it will destroy Hawaii’s economy” stuff. It’s just not true, and personally, I’m tired of hearing it.
At the risk of sounding insensitive, any traveller not following the Safe Travels protocols (ie. pre- travel testing) because “i read that it was ending on july 4th,” does so at their own fault/risk. Any traveller with common sense has been following BOH news and/or other Hawaii news/info sources, so no reason to be uninformed; confused, maybe … but thats another issue …
If the governor thinks visitors are aware of the rules, all he needs to do is read BOH and see the constant stream of questions from people who don’t understand or even know of the rules.
Mahalo BOH!
Hi Ed.
Thanks. Good point. We’ll add that to today’s post.
Aloha.
If travellers dont know the rules, thats not the Gov fault. i just returned from Maui and have been following BOH since Hawaii shut down. Is the Gov and his crew a bunch of circus clowns? YES. but the rules to travel to Hawaii are clear. And, the Safe Travels protocols are not preventing travel to HI. BOH (i think) reported record numbers of incoming travellers these last few weeks … Safe Travels is not stopping folks from travelling to HI.
What’s causing confusion is the Lt. Gov. if he would just stop running for Gov for one second, and let the government of Hawaii speak with one voice, there would be a lot less confusion. Also, if people don’t know by now that they need to be tested before they travel to Hawaii, well, let’s just say that they have had plenty of time to figure it out and I suspect that they just aren’t listening to the right “people”.
Gov Ige should follow the science. Open up the state. Even California is opening. I think he should listen to the medical professionals. Lt Gov Green would be one of them!!!!
The Gov is just trying to protect the people of Hawaii. It’s pretty clear that we are all in a position now where it’s only the unvaccinated that are at risk of serious illness and/or death. Herd immunity is reached when you exceed 60% of the population being vaccinated, so that’s why the Gov set a 60% level before he allows untested people into the state. It’s a reasonable thing that follows the science, not the political rush to open up.
And here we have Ige and the rest, still figuring out how to.implement a vaccine app that will be obsolete by the time it ever becomes usable.
Mayor Kawakami inadvertently said today that ” Kauai has enough tourists, we don’t need anymore. So no need to open before 60 or 70% is achieved.”
That is paraphrasing, but is a true indication of how these mandates are now being used. Tourist count control, not for safety.
I’ve said it many times… Just wait until the foreclosure and renter moratoriums end… count out roughlyb12 months and watch the crap hot the fan out here.
My neighborhood is already looking more like 2011. Nobody watering their grass, weeds everywhere. Community park area is looking more derelict.
Thanks for the update! I’m not sure where confusion would come from, I had understood from the announcement about the July 4th date that it was contingent upon hitting the 60% vaccination threshold.
It’s a shame that the vaccination rate has slowed down so much but unfortunately that seems to be the case throughout most of the U.S. A double shame that this increases the likelihood that mutations proliferate and the danger that this could lead to variants that endanger even those who are vaccinated (and be much more dangerous for those who legitimately can’t get the vaccine.)
Hope that those who are eligible but haven’t yet received the vaccine will do so soon!
Hi Carolyn.
Just to clarify, when Ige announced July 4, it was not in relation to any percentage of vaccination being achieved. Those percentage targets came later.
Aloha.