UPDATE: APRIL 1, 2021
As Hawaii reopens to tourism and customer numbers rise, the Aloha State’s financial restoration is wanting brighter. Nonetheless, the Hawaii Secure Travels Program and a compulsory 10-day quarantine for guests and not using a detrimental COVID-19 stay in place.
The previous two weeks have seen a spike in new circumstances in Hawaii, climbing again into triple-digits. This was anticipated with the return of tourism, however officers are keen to coach guests about Hawaii’s statewide masks mandate and social distancing tips as Hawaii’s common customer locations see bigger and bigger crowds.
Hawaii’s residents have been significantly conscious of masking and social distancing, and plenty of right here worry the trouble might be for nothing if reopening results in a fourth viral surge and one other devastating lockdown.
The has been dialogue amongst well being and tourism officers a few so-called “Vaccine Passport” that may enable guests to keep away from quarantine with proof of a full inoculation. The is each sturdy assist for and opposition to such measure. No plan has but been introduced, and there’s no timeline for when a Vaccine Passport may be carried out in Hawaii.
A part of the state’s efforts to cease the unfold of COVID-19 in Hawaii consists of the AlohaSafe Alert App, out there free of charge obtain by means of the Hawaii Tourism Authority. Maui County now requires the app to be downloaded by guests to the Valley Isle as new an infection numbers stay excessive and are climbing.
The AlohaSafe Alert App doesn’t observe location or identification. It retains observe of different cell units a person could have been in shut contact with, with out utilizing GPS location knowledge. It’s an added layer of safety for guests and for the residents they arrive into contact with.
Take heed to our Hawaii Vacation Connection Podcast for the most recent developments affecting Hawaii guests.
UPDATE, February 25, 2021:
Hawaii has taken one other step towards the return of bigger customer numbers and the restoration of a state economic system that has been decimated by the COVID-19 international pandemic and the lockdown it has pressured within the Aloha State.
As vaccines turn into extra out there and as case charges and hospitalizations proceed do lower, Oahu (Honolulu County) in the present day strikes into “Tier 3” of town’s reopening plan. That is great information for the companies and eating places that might be allowed to extend capability and ease among the restrictions put in place to curb the unfold of coronavirus.
Officers have additionally floated proposals for the Hawaii Secure Travels program that may enable guests with proof of a COVID vaccination to keep away from the obligatory 14-day quarantine now required of arrivals and not using a detrimental COVID check from one of many state’s “Trusted Testing Companions”. These are cautiously hopeful occasions in Hawaii.
There stays the specter of harmful group unfold of COVID in Hawaii. That is evidenced by the truth that Maui County, with a fraction of Oahu’s inhabitants, has twice in a single week surpassed Honolulu County within the variety of every day new reported circumstances of COVID. The necessity for vigilance amongst guests and residents stays crucial if Hawaii is to proceed on its path to financial, public well being, and social restoration.
What stays clear, nonetheless, is that the efforts of our private and non-private sector officers, and of our residents themselves, are exhibiting us that it’s attainable for us to emerge from the worry and uncertainty the pandemic has engendered over the previous yr.
Verify the hyperlinks under for the most recent out there data on the Hawaii Secure Travels program and use Hawaii Aloha Journey’s unique (and free) Journey Calculator, which can inform you the earliest time and date to obtain a detrimental COVID check and keep away from the 14-day quarantine.
The state of affairs stays fluid, however the outlook appears to be getting higher every single day. Stick with us right here at Hawaii Aloha Journey, and tune into our Hawaii Trip Podcast for the most recent updates on planning a Hawaii trip.
A hui hou means “till we meet once more” within the Hawaiian language, and we sit up for it!
Hawaii State Division of Transportation is rolling out its Secure Travels App, a program meant to streamline the arrival process for trans-Pacific guests and residents coming back from abroad and precisely acquire knowledge on vacationers topic to the obligatory 14-day quarantine. It’s a “scaled up” model of a system already used for interisland journey.
“It was a breeze,” says Aloha Bruce of his recent trip to Kauai. “No problem in any respect. It was actually handy and straightforward to make use of.” The system makes use of bar codes and different digital expertise as a pre-screening methodology of getting details about departure factors, lodging, and well being data rapidly to screeners at Hawaii’s airports.
The unique program Bruce describes was profitable however not “scalable” for the variety of guests Hawaii expects as efforts to reopen the state proceed, however it’s being changed by an app developed by Google and its companions for Hawaii. The safetravels.hawaii.gov web site is presently “in transition” in response to the web site itself.
Listed here are a very powerful hyperlinks it’s essential get began:
TRUSTED PARTNERS FOR TESTING (CLICK HERE)
HAWAII SAFE TRAVELS PROGRAM (FAQ’S) (CLICK HERE)
REGISTER FOR HAWAII SAFE TRAVELS PROGRAM (CLICK HERE)
For probably the most present data, guests are directed to the Health Department coronavirus website.
The rollout of the Secure Travels App is an encouraging step towards the reopening of Hawaii tourism. There’s hope that it may be totally in place by the quarantine exemption for guests with detrimental COVID-19 assessments, which has been delayed till at the very least October 1 as a result of an alarming spike in new coronavirus circumstances in Hawaii in latest weeks.
The encouraging information concerning the Secure Travels App is way wanted, as Oahu has entered a second “keep at house” order and all non-essential companies have been shuttered till at the very least September 6. Eating places are restricted to solely takeout service. Maui can also be seeing a fast improve in energetic circumstances. Public faculties, for probably the most half, will conduct distance studying for at the very least the start of the college yr. Day by day returning residents have outnumbered incoming guests for the primary time in many years.
The Secure Travels App affords hope for rising from the COVID-19 disaster in Hawaii. “The COVID is with us,” Bruce says. “That is simply going to turn into a part of how we journey, wherever.” Like TSA screenings, eradicating sneakers, and different safety measures carried out since 9/11, Secure Travels and different applied sciences prefer it are destined to be part of touring to any extent further.
Secure Travels can also be encouraging as a result of it improves the power to trace guests and residents underneath quarantine. The variety of folks getting caught and cited for violating quarantine is disturbing.
Extra particulars from authorities and builders from Google are but to return. Ideally, a Hawaii customer will be capable to get a COVID-19 check earlier than departing for Hawaii and have the licensed outcomes out there to screeners upon their arrival within the Aloha State, exempting them from obligatory quarantine.
Plans to reopen Hawaii tourism are incremental and are nonetheless being developed. The Secure Travels App is a step towards reopening, and we right here at Hawaii Aloha Journey are monitoring this system to finest enable you to plan your Hawaii trip.
Posted by: Jamie Winpenny
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