Hawaii Tourism Authority Responds to Pre-travel Testing
Hawaii Governor David Ige announced this afternoon that the State of Hawaii’s pre-travel testing program will start on October 15, 2020. The State’s reasoning is this will give travelers arriving from out of state an alternative to the 14-day mandatory self-quarantine. Hawaii Tourism Authority responded to this announcement.
“Hawaii will start its pre-travel testing program for COVID-19 on October 15, enabling travelers to avoid quarantine if they take the test within a 72-hour period prior to their arrival and test negative. We have agreements in place with CVS and Kaiser Permanente, who will offer the tests, and we will announce new testing partners in the coming weeks,” Governor Ige said.
In response to today’s announcement, John De Fries, who started today as the new president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) said, “The governor’s announcement aligns well with the fact that Hawaii’s visitor industry has established protocols to ensure the safety of our residents and workforce, while also welcoming back pre-tested guests safely.”
Initially the pre-travel testing program was scheduled to begin on August 1. Hawaii’s trans-Pacific quarantine has been in effect since March 26 as a way to help control the spread of COVID-19.
The Hawaii Department of Health is in charge of the pre-travel testing program.
According to a press release from Gov. Ige’s office, the test must be an FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), performed using a nasal swab, and the travelers must show proof of negative test results from a CLIA certified laboratory. Upon arrival in Hawaii, passengers unable to provide proof of an approved negative test will be required to go into quarantine for 14 days or until they can provide proof of negative test results.
“We continue to educate visitors before and after they arrive in the Hawaiian Islands to make them more mindful and aware about their responsibility to keep themselves and our residents safe,” De Fries added.
The State of Hawaii released this graphic to help explain the pre-travel testing program: https://governor.hawaii.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/Pre-Travel-Test-or-Quarantine-Flowchart.pdf
To see the safety protocols established by Hawaii’s visitor industry: www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/5190/visitors-journey.pdf
To watch Gov. Ige’s press conference, visit HTA’s Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HawaiiHTA/
