Now that Hawaii’s Protected Travels program and indoor masks mandates have been lifted, we thought it could be attention-grabbing to look again on the lengthy journey it took to get so far. So we poured via our archives to spotlight a number of the key milestones since March 6, 2020.
March 6, 2020 – First COVID-19 Case
Hawaii recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 6, 2020. The particular person was an Oahu resident who had traveled on the Grand Princess cruise ship, which had a extensively reported COVID outbreak. By the top of March, Hawaii had recognized 224 instances in complete.
March 17, 2020 – First Restrictions Introduced
Governor Ige held a press convention on March 17, 2020, saying the primary restrictions that may go into impact on March 20, 2020. Closures included parks, theaters, customer sights, church buildings, eating places (apart from takeout) and bars. As well as, in his press convention, Gov. Ige stated that he strongly inspired guests to postpone their holidays for a minimum of the subsequent 30 days.
March 21, 2020 – Necessary 14-day traveler quarantine introduced.
On March 21, 2020, Gov. Ige introduced a compulsory 14-day quarantine for all incoming travelers. Individuals topic to quarantine weren’t permitted to go away their place of quarantine for the whole 14-day interval. This mandate went into impact on March 26, 2020.
April 17, 2020 – Hawaii closes all seashores.
As a part of the governor’s new restrictions, nobody was allowed to take a seat, stand, lie down, lounge, sunbathe or loiter on the shoreline.
April 26, 2020 – 14-Day journey quarantine expanded to incorporate Hawaii inter-island journey.
Mid-Could 2020 – Island mayors start to reopen seashores.
June 8, 2020 – Most state parks re-open and “passive” seashore use is allowed.
June 16, 2020 – Inter-island quarantine restriction lifted.
June 24, 2020 – Pre-travel program to permit vacationers to bypass quarantine first introduced. Initially to be carried out August 1, 2020, however in the end delayed.
August 11, 2020 – Partial inter-island quarantine reinstated.
With a surge in instances, significantly on Oahu, a partial inter-island 14-day quarantine was put again into place.
October 15, 2020 – Hawaii opens journey with pre-travel testing, i.e., Protected Travels Hawaii program
Initially the state’s Protected Travels program was deliberate to be carried out August 1, 2020. Then they aimed for September 1, then October 1, but it surely wasn’t till October 15 that it was finally implemented. Even then, there have been some last-minute hesitations, however in the end all of the islands determined to take part in this system. Although the islands had been opening to tourism, many tours, restaurants, hotels and attractions remained closed for weeks and even months.
November 16, 2020 – Gov. Ige points a brand new emergency proclamation to clarify the statewide mask mandate.
December 4, 2020 – Quarantine interval lowered from 14 days to 10 days.
December 2, 2020 – Kauai opts out of the Safe Travels program, which required necessary 14-day quarantine once more.
December 17, 2020 – For vacationers not collaborating within the pre-travel testing, the necessary quarantine interval lowered from 14 days to 10 days.
January 5, 2021 – Kauai reopens to vacationers, however with new, complex stipulations to reduce quarantine.
April 5, 2021 – Kauai rejoins the statewide Protected Travels program.
Could 25, 2021 – Statewide outside masks mandate lifted.
June 15, 2021 – All inter-island journey restrictions lifted.
June 15, 2021 – Persons vaccinated in Hawaii are no longer required to pre-test when touring to Hawaii to be able to bypass quarantine.
July 8, 2021 – Fully vaccinated travelers no longer have to pre-test to be able to bypass quarantine.
August 23, 2021 – Governor asks guests to cut back journey to Hawaii.
With Hawaii’s largest surge at the moment, the governor held a press convention asking visitors not to travel to Hawaii for non-essential causes. He described it as a “dangerous time to journey.” He said that journey needs to be held off till the top of October.
Mid-September, 2021 – Each Maui and Oahu require proof of full vaccination or detrimental check for eating places, bars, gyms, and many others.
Be aware that Kauai and Hawaii (Huge) Island didn’t implement related guidelines.
November 1, 2021 – Governor says visitors welcome back to Hawaii once more.
January 3, 2022 – Quarantine interval lowered from 10 days to five days.
January 2022 – Maui requires proof of booster vaccine for entry to eating places, bars, gyms.
The mayor of Maui originally announced that proof of boosters could be required efficient January 8, 2022, however this requirement was delayed till January 24, 2022. Proof of detrimental check was additionally accepted for entry. As you will note under, this requirement was ultimately dropped within two weeks of being in effect.
January 9, 2022 – The primary cruise ship returns to Hawaii after a virtually two-year pause.
February 7, 2022 – Maui drops booster requirement for entry to eating places, bars, gyms, and many others.
February 21, 2022 – Maui drops all vaccine passport or check necessities for entry to eating places, bars, gyms, and many others.
March 6, 2022 – Oahu drops all vaccine passport or check necessities for entry to eating places, bars, gyms., and many others.
March 1, 2022 – Hawaii’s governor proclaims the Protected Travels program to finish on March 25.
March 8, 2022 – Hawaii’s governor proclaims the state’s indoor masks mandate to finish on March 25.
March 26, 2022 – No pre-test or vaccine passport required for home vacationers to Hawaii. Indoor masks are not required. (Vacationers arriving in Hawaii straight from a global airport should proceed to adjust to U.S. federal requirements.)
Whew! We’ve all navigated a protracted, arduous COVID restrictions journey these previous two years! As we created this timeline, we had been reminded of how strict measures have been.
Along with what we listed above, there have been different discussions and island-specific guidelines that we didn’t embody within the timeline simply to maintain it cleaner. A couple of value mentioning are:
- Resort bubbles – keep in mind these? They had been fairly controversial.
- Durations of testing upon arrival on Hawaii (Huge) Island and Maui.
- Contact tracing apps.
After reviewing this timeline, did you discover any surprises or belongings you had forgotten about?
