LIHU‘E — Later this month, the state’s travel quarantine and Safe Travels program will end, Gov. David Ige announced Tuesday afternoon.
Beginning March 26, when the latest emergency proclamation expires, domestic travelers will not need to show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test result, register travel with the state or quarantine on arrival.
“We started the Safe Travels program to protect the health, lives and livelihoods of the people of Hawai‘i,” Ige said. “The program put in place safety protocols that included a multi-layered screening and testing approach that kept our communities safe during the COVID-19 surges that endangered the most vulnerable of our citizens. Right now, we are seeing lower case counts, and hospitalizations are coming down.”
Since the program started in October 2020, the state has screened over 11.3 million passengers.
“Safe Travels is one part of a multi-layer approach to COVID safety. The program played a key role in keeping Hawai‘i’s residents safe before vaccinations were widely available and during the surges we’ve seen through this pandemic,” Hawai‘i Tourism Authority President and CEO John De Fries said.
An indoor mask mandate will continue to stay in place statewide at least through March 25, with officials with the state Department of Health continuing to monitor statewide case counts, hospitalizations and federal recommendations.
Last week, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it’s no longer recommending indoor masking for most Americans, based on county-level data.
According to the CDC, Kaua‘i is at a medium-risk level, which recommends that those at a high risk for severe illness speak with a health-care provider on whether they should wear a mask; be up to date on COVID-19 vaccinations; and get tested if there are present symptoms. This level does not recommend masking indoors.
On Kaua‘i, the county’s average daily case count is down almost 75% from two weeks ago, Mayor Derek Kawakami reported during his weekly COVID-19 briefing Tuesday.
”I thank you all for your patience, your willingness to adapt at a moment’s notice, your innovative solutions and your teamwork to overcome the most-extraordinary and unprecedented challenges over the past two years,” Kawakami said.
The DOH Kaua‘i District Health Office reported 24 new cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday.
The county’s seven-day average daily case count is 17, DOH Kaua‘i District Health Officer Dr. Janet Berreman said.
“Five weeks ago, we peaked at an average of over 400 cases a day,” Berreman said. “The dropping case count is a great sign. We appreciate all your efforts to slow the spread, and we hope the numbers keep going down,” said Berreman.
But she continued to urge best practices, even with loosening restrictions.
”We’ve all made enormous sacrifices over the last two years,” she said
Tuesday. “We’ve lived with restrictions on how we work, socialize, travel, participate in sports, gather, go to school — all the things that make us a community. … But thanks to our sacrifices, Hawai‘i — and especially Kaua‘i — has weathered the COVID pandemic relatively well compared to communities on the mainland.”
Kawakami, after lifting all county-directed COVID-19 rules on Monday, said that mask-wearing rules will continue to evolve over time.
“Families are going to have to take a personal assessment of their risk and tolerance,” he said. “Families are going to have to also assess how much risk they’re willing to take in certain activities.”
Using himself as an example, Kawakami said he will continue to mask on a case-by-case basis in gathering settings.
“I will tell you, I’m relatively healthy. I’m up to date with my vaccines, but I will tell you, personally, in certain situations, I’m going to wear a mask,” he said. “Everybody in our community, and across the world, has been dealing with this COVID-19 pandemic for over two years, and most of the places and most of the public-health experts and officials have been speaking the same language as far as mitigative measures to not getting sick.”
For the time being, the county will continue to operate the Kaua‘i War Memorial Convention Hall testing center in Lihu‘e, open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
A mobile testing van will be open at the Kekaha Neighborhood Center on Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Thursday, a hospital van will hold a vaccine clinic at the Hanalei Neighborhood Center from 3 to 5 p.m., open to ages 12 and older.
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Sabrina Bodon, editor, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
