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I’m so sad that I have a trip to Hawaii on August 18th rescheduled from May and I don’t even want to go to Hawaii anymore. I have to find out how to get a refund on my airline tickets from Hawaiian which I’m concerned about. Do you have any tips for trying to get a refund on tickets?
The US Virgin Islands is also requiring testing like this starting 7/13 (they just announced this) for visitors from Texas and Florida. With such short notice, it will be crazy I think. I’m not sure if they will last at Airport. I’m still hopeful for my September trip, but reality is sinking in. Thanks for all the updates.
Hi Jo.
Thank you for your comments.
Aloha.
If I have C0VID now, will I need to be tested before I travel or can I show that I was positive weeks before I traveled? Or can I bring anti-body test results with me?
It would sure be awesome if the Hawaiian government was a little more sophisticated. I love Hawaii and the Hawaiian people and don’t want to do anything to harm them. I’m even willing to wait to visit but I would take a whole lot more comfort if I had any confidence in the Governor or the people around him.
I just read the Alaska tourism email and based on feedback from travelers having issues getting a test before departure, they suggested a company that will overnight test-at-home kits with results usually within 24 hours or less of their receipt of the sample. Not clear if insurance covers, but they have info on their website. May be another option.
Hello! Great website. What’s the diff bt NAAT and PCR test?
Hi John.
Thank you. We aren’t experts on that although Googling shows a distinct difference. The biggest thing we found was that no one appears to be offering the Naat test.
Aloha.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nucleic_acid_test
According to wikipedia, it looks like NAAT is an umbrella which includes PCR
Thank you for the latest on pre entry training. However, as yet there is no answers to International travellers who wish to visit. I was due to travel from the UK in September but it is impossible to be tested here unless you have symptoms. This would mean we all have to quar antine for 14 days upon arrival. Therefore, with great sadness, I have had to cancel our four week holiday. Hopefully, we can return next May. MAHALO.
Hi John.
Sorry to hear that. Thank you.
Aloha.
Were scheduled to go to Hawaii to see family Aug. 5th. Covid testing within 72 hours is absolutely impossible. Should we reschedule?
Hi Monika!
I’d cancel or rebook ASAP.
After speaking with several people on island, it’s not the time to go to Hawai’i.
Aloha
Aloha Guys!
I really find it Odd that most people are searching for outside sources to take tests from, rather than just going to their personal Doctor and discussing testing procedures and potential ways to get faster test results.
There are many people suggesting that Tests are not available at all, or to most people, which does not match the results I am finding. Although, I do understand that there are areas that have limited ability to test, or that they are providing specific tests to only people with symptoms (or only those sick), if people actually do some research, or contact their Doctor, it’s likely they may find there are potentially other options.
My wife and I actually have different insurance plans, and we both are able to be tested through our Doctor, with no issues, and get results within 24-48 hours. I know several people across the country who have also been to there Doctor and had no issue being tested, most of whom received results within a 3 day window, although some took longer.
I would love to hear more results of people doing it this way, and seeing how fast they get their results…
Mahalo Guys!
Hi Jim.
Thanks.
Aloha.
I tried to get my Dr. in Maine to order a test for me after I had traveled back to Maine from another state. Because I did not have any symptoms they would not order a test for me. I had potentially been exposed on the plane and it the state I was in but they still would not order a test. I had a test before I left the state I visited on Saturday and I went to a Quick Care facility in Maine on Monday night.
I received both negative test results on Thursday,; 6 and 4 days after testing. I stayed in Quar antine until I had results as that is the rule in Maine till you can attest that you have a negative test. (there is no way this is being enforced, honor system)
This would be half of my vacation time in Kauai,(sept. 2020) I don’t want to spend half my vacation in isolation.
Also, coming from the East Coast on SW I will have to have an overnight in California.
Thanks for this forum very helpful to keep up on the ever changing rules.
Hi Erin.
Thanks.
Aloha.
This just in from gov offices in Calif:
According to a recent survey by the Association for Molecular Pathology, more than 70% of U.S. clinical laboratories have suffered significant delays to C0VID-19 testing programs as a result of ongoing supply chain disruptions. The organization said that the expansion of COVD-19 testing capacity at laboratories around the country has put pressure on supply chains that handle reagents and other materials used to learn whether a patient is infected.
California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly acknowledged the state is facing a testing supply shortage.
COST?
FYI We have used Kaiser to schedule a C0VID PCR test here in San Jose, Ca. An appt requested by our doctor was necessary. We did the tests yesterday, Tuesday, for travel to Alaska within 72 hrs of departure on Friday, as required to enter that state. Because we have no symptoms or known contacts, we’ve been told that travel is the lowest priority for turnaround, normally around 72-96 hours, so to expect it to be 96 hrs. Cases are going up here, so who knows if that will hold this week. And not certain they send results over the weekend. We have arranged to self quar antine in our hotel suite with food delivered in until our charter sail on Tuesday, just in case. All other available testing in our county is for those with symptoms/known contacts, or free for anyone with long lines, but they all have turnaround times up to a week. Testing upon arrival in Juneau is now taking up to 5 days. On arrival, we will also receive a free voucher for a repeat test to be done in 7-14 days to make sure we’re still negative.
Hey Jim
Your right about going to your doctor. I’m old school and trust my doctor over online and mailing.
I contacted my doctors office and they do not advertise doing tests for travel but they do them on request. The issue I have it takes 4 days for results, so if it goes to 5 days I’ll be making appointments but it has to be very soon.
Aloha.
Be careful when you say ‘tested’. I too have asked my doctor and I too have found I can be ‘tested’. Only antibody testing is offered. ‘Active’ testing is only offered to those showing symptoms, so – no help getting ‘tested’ for travel.
Mahalo
Hi Skip.
Thanks.
Aloha.
Its time to make the call to just stop until this thing gets figured out. Too many people have too much invested including US in our vacations to not have a clear answer. This is not a complaint just reality.
Agreed. It’s so odd that people who want to take a vacation keep hoping for some sort of miracle workaround instead of accepting reality and moving on. Hawai’i will still be there next year, and the year after that…
right? I mean this is my FIRST trip to Hawaii and its a big bucket list item but I am not willing to sacrifice my lady my friends or myself if its not safe. I would prefer to just wait till things can safely open up and not sweat my vacation. Dont get me wrong I so want that ma-halo spirit to over take me but I can wait I am patient.
You are making a wise choice. It makes no sense to have those “What if” questions lingering before you travel and right after you arrive, and during travel for that matter. What Governor Ige is doing is frankly pretty bizarre. The next two-three months will be quite interesting. We have our annual trip to Kauai scheduled for February and if there is no vaccine by then, we may cancel. We just don’t want to deal with the uncertainty. By the way, you may be thinking of the Ohana spirit rather than Mahalo, which means “Thanks”. But in certain cases Mahalo works too.
For BOH, in a previous BOH post you said you have seen more rental cars on the Kaumualii Highway. Any idea how these tourists arrived- Tested? Quarantined? Possibly residents from other states? Maholo.
Hi Bob.
No, we do not know anything more about all of the rental cars that we’ve seen recently.
Thanks for all of your comments.
Aloha
Dave, Well said. I totally agree. Right now Hawaii is experiencing a great increase in numbers in community spread. That is without the influx of tourists. People are putting themselves & their loved ones at great risk traveling in confined space to get there and then vacationing in a spot where there is such an uptick. Also knowing how the cases are blowing up here on the mainland, it is irresponsible to be a possible carrier and risk transporting it to residents of Hawaii. Please do the right thing, stay home and visit the islands in the future when this has become controlled.
How about those of us wanting to return to our homes in Hawaii but not willing to be forcibly confined for 14 days? Should we just move on as well?
What an incredible mess. My plan for a mid-August return is not looking good.
Thanks to Beat of Hawaii for the great updates. Most reliable information and quicker than any other source I’ve found.
Hi Mike.
Thanks for that and for all of your comments.
Aloha.
Seems to me if you have a home there quarantining should be pretty easy? If you dont want to go I would be happy to and take care of your home and quar antine! 🙂
To say that this situation is getting out of hand is a profound understatement. The fallacies of 3 or 5 day pre arrival testing should be obvious EVEN to politicians considering the “possible” days until someone is even symptomatic or even have a detectable response to ANY test. And the probabilities of coming in contact with someone that has the ‘rona while in transit is out there so how exactly is that pre test relevant let alone one 5 days out!?
From AP News, 7/8:
“Americans confronted with an alarming resurgence of the scourge are facing long lines at testing sites in the summer heat or are getting turned away, while others are going a week or more without receiving a diagnosis.
“Some sites are running out of kits, while labs are reporting shortages of materials and workers to process the swabs.”
Clearly, advance testing is not a viable option at this time.
(Our personal experience in San Diego: We had long cancelled our planned trip to Hawai’i. Then we both got C19 symptoms. We were not allowed to be tested because we weren’t “sick enough” and they were saving the test kits for people who were really in dire straits. Weeks later, we still don’t know if we had it/have it or not.)
yep agreed we are told here in oregon that we need to be sick. There is no easy place to just GO and take a test. I want to anyway even if I wasnt planning to come to hawaii but they will not let me because I have no symptoms
My in-laws went last Saturday without an appointment to a testing site in Beaverton, OR and had results within 20 minutes. Not sure how many of those types of places are out there and if the test will meet Hawaii’s requirements but they are places out there to go without a Dr prescribing.
could you please find out for me where they went to get their test? I am in Aloha LOL Oregon .
I just donated blood. They test the blood for the antibody but that won’t help with a negative. Sorry just thinking as I type. Not a bad idea to donate during this time.
Aloha a d ditto from A. While CVS is offering drive thru testing by appointment (with an average turnaround of 3-7 days), it is the PCR test not NAAT as is being talked about for HI admission. Couldn’t find anywhere offering NAAT test. On top of that answering the CVS re-test questionnaire for PCR just to schedule an appointment, it said we were not eligible since we have no symptoms. Gov Ing (and others) needs to make up his/their minds. If they are patterning after Alaska, the state us only requiring PCR and nothing else.
unfortunately, they do pre screening and if you want the test, but you do NOT feel sick or have lots of the symptoms, you would HAVE to check a few of the symptoms boxes, or you would be rejected for registering for the free test! that is the reality. I had few body aches and sore throat, and I have allergies/asthma, pre diabetic, so I marked asthma, diabetes, aches sore throat and it let me get approved for and tested for free. I did not have covid per the results. Still it took 6 days to get back my results.