LIHU‘E — Hawai‘i’s statewide indoor mask mandate will tentatively be fully lifted March 26, Gov. David Ige announced Tuesday.
“Together, we have reduced COVID-19 in Hawai‘i to the point where most of us will be safe without masks indoors,” Ige said. “Right now, hospitalizations are trending down. Case counts are falling. We are better at treating people who are infected. Booster shots are saving lives.”
The mask mandate will expire with Ige’s last COVID-19 related ergency order which expires at 11:59 p.m. on March 25.
Ige pointed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s latest recommendations that puts the state at a low COVID-19 community level.
Ige said if a surge were to happen again, he is ready to reinstitute the mask policy.
“We have been tracking the data and studying trends for weeks, and support this move,” said state Department of Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Char.
“Masks are still an important tool in preventing transmission of COVID-19. We strongly recommend people over age 65, people with compromised immune systems, people who aren’t vaccinated, and those who care for people at risk of severe illness still wear masks indoors. This is especially important in crowded settings.”
Earlier in the day, the state Department of Education announced that outdoor masking will be optional at public schools and offices, effective today.
“It’s encouraging to see our indicators trending in the right direction to allow us to make this change,” state DOE Interim Superintendent Keith Hayashi said in a news release. “We’re seeing COVID case counts at our public schools continue to decline for the seventh straight week, and weekly rates are down 98% from January’s omicron surge peak.”
The state DOE pointed to recent recommendations from the CDC that suggest that outdoor masking is not required at its low-to-moderate community levels.
DOH State Epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Kemble did recommend that masking remain in classrooms “for the time being.”
“We are no longer recommending quarantine for students who are exposed to COVID-19 at school,” Kemble said. “Masks provide a layer of protection as we amend the school-quarantine guidance.”
The state will continue to recommend masks indoors at schools, hospitals and health-care facilities, long-term-care facilities, shelters, correctional buildings and other congregate-living situations.
Masking, the state DOH recommended, should be considered when vaccination status is unknown.
“Simple prevention practices will keep us moving in the right direction,” Char said.
Ige said one metric he used to determine that it’s time for the mandate to end is that there were 48 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 Tuesday. He said that’s the first time the number has been under 50 since last summer.
He said cases are trending downward, and he expects that to continue in the coming weeks.
Since April 2020, the state has required face masks. At first, it was both indoors and outdoors.
Ige said the state’s culture of caring for others, especially kupuna, or the elderly in Hawaiian, helped the state tolerate the mask rule for so long.
March 25 is also when travelers arriving in the islands will no longer have to show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID-19 test to avoid quarantining.
Ige said these rules have contributed to Hawai‘i having among the lowest rates of COVID-19 in the country.
Kaua‘i resident Sheila Herr told The Associated Press said she will continue wearing a mask when indoors around people, like at the grocery store, even if it’s not mandatory.
“The majority of my friends on Kaua‘i agree that we should wear masks to protect each other,” she said.
This story was updated to add additional context on when the mask mandate would expire.
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Sabrina Bodon, editor, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com. The Associated Press contributed to this story.
