Hawaii Ready to Lift Interisland Travel Quarantine
Hawaii Governor David Ige said, “The state is ready,” to allow people to stop the interisland travel quarantine and not have to stay sheltered for 2 weeks. But he said we are not ready to allow people in from outside the state without a mandatory quarantine. So, the 14-day quarantine for trans-Pacific travel stands at least until July 31.
Governor Ige explained that the state is still studying procedures and methods for allowing trans-Pacific travel to happen safely without the stipulation of a quarantine. A number of states have been experiencing increased COVID-19 cases. The numbers do not yet indicate a wide-open welcome for travelers to meander around the state upon arrival just yet.
Effective June 16, the interisland travel quarantine will be officially lifted. Many local families are encouraged at the prospect of being able to travel unhampered to see family on other islands. Governor Ige announced the interisland quarantine on March 31.
This marks the 9th COVID-19 emergency proclamation that the Governor has signed ever since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. Ige said there will be new procedures in place for interisland travel, including a thermal screening before departure. People with a temperature of 100.4 degrees or higher will not be allowed to board aircraft.
Additionally, there will be a new form that will need to completed before departure, so Governor Ige warned interisland passengers to arrive early to accommodate the new procedures in place at check in.
It is the intention of the Governor’s Office and other state offices to use the interisland passenger travel quarantine lift as a means to study the possible effects of removing the quarantine for trans-Pacific travel.
At the press conference held today, Governor Ige was asked why the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations Director Scott Murakami was on on leave. The Governor responded that he had ordered Murakami to take some time off, because he was under “tremendous stress.”
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