w Editor’s note: Questions about stay-at-home orders can be submitted to tinyurl.com/TGIQ-A and The Garden Island staff will do our best to find you an answer by contacting county officials and state Department of Health Kaua‘i District Health Officer Dr. Janet Berreman. Be aware these answers are informed with the latest directives from officials and can change as official rules and recommendations change. Contact the DOH or your physician for official COVID-19 symptoms and steps to take if you think you have the virus.
Q: If a person has quarantined on Kaua‘i for the required 14 days will they have to quarantine again if they then travel to the Hawai‘i Island?
A: An interisland quarantine mandate began on April 1 per the fourth supplementary proclamation signed by Gov. David Ige. When traveling between islands, say from Kaua‘i to Hawai‘i Island, travelers will need to complete an Interisland Declaration Form stating name, address, contact information, destination information and traveling purposes.
This rule, outlined on the state’s Department of Transportation website, says that those traveling interisland must self-quarantine. The department says that “travelers must remain in their hotel rooms, order food delivery, and not receive visitors.”
Exceptions to these rules are for those traveling to perform necessary functions, and they still must self-quarantine. This group may break it to perform these functions, but otherwise remain in self-quarantine. Upon return to their island of residency, a self-quarantine is not required for these people.
An additional exception is for those traveling for medical care between islands. A self-quarantine is not required, but protective masks and other gear as well as social-distancing measures are required.
Violations of the self-quarantine can result in a misdemeanor with fines of up to $5,000 and/or up-to one year in prison.
Q: We bought a house in Waimea on March 25, and got stuck on the mainland. Can we come and do maintenance or have a local contact cut the grass periodically?
A: Last week, the mayor announced an amendment to emergency rule No. 5 which allows for landscaping maintenance. This rule states that maintenance is limited to no more than one landscape on a parcel smaller than five acres. “Further, no more than three landscapers are permitted to serve a parcel larger than five acres,” and on properties over 10 acres, where there are five landscapers present, a portable toilet must be provided, separate from those on the premises, the rule reads.
As for intended residents coming to the island, at this time a mandatory, two-week, self-quarantine is in place through the end of the month. Under these rules, travelers are not permitted to leave the property they designate on their declaration form.
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Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
