![]() ![]() Green noted children under the age of 5 will not need to be tested and also announced what he described as an additional surveillance testing program, which would test about 10% of visitors and residents after they arrive in the islands. Results of the test will then need to be uploaded on Hawaii’s Safe Travels platform, which features a range of additional information about arrival requirements and safety protocols. That test must be completed by one of the state’s partners, a collection of providers that now includes CVS, Walgreens and Kaiser Permanente as well as preflight testing options announced recently by airlines such as Hawaiian, United, Alaska and American. Hawaii will require visitors looking to avoid the two-week quarantine to provide proof of a negative nucleic acid amplification test (NAT) at least 72 hours before departure on the final leg of flights to the islands, Green said. Green, meanwhile, also took part in Wednesday’s press conference at the airport, outlining a range of current specifics about the Aloha State’s pretesting program. What travelers can’t ever take is uncertainty. “I don’t want them to be in a situation where a visitor and a guest gets a test, and our residents are unable to get the test that they need.” “As I’ve told the mayors, I’m just very concerned about diverting the testing capacity of the state from our local residents - for people who are symptomatic or people who have been exposed,” he said. ![]() On Wednesday, Ige clarified his own worries about a post-arrival exam program’s impact on Hawaii’s test supply. “What you can legally require people to do is go into quarantine.” “Logistically, very hard to convince people to go get a second test because you’re not allowed to legally require a test,” he said last week. travelers to take a test before or after they travel to Hawaii. Green also indicated state officials cannot officially require U.S. “That would exceed our capacity, starting after the fourth day of our program, by 100%.” “If we mandated a second test four days after arrival, three days after arrival, all 8,000 of those individuals would have to get a test,” Green said last week. Hawaii Lieutenant Governor Josh Green, who tested positive for COVID-19 last month, discusses details of the destination’s pretest plan for trans-Pacific visitors. A former emergency room physician heading the Ige administration’s pretest planning effort, Green indicated last week those arrivals estimates would make enacting a second test for Hawaii visitors difficult because the state only has the capacity to test 4,000 people per day, including its residents. ![]() “Our county administration has been clear that a single pre-arrival testing program alone does not provide the needed level of protection for our Kauai community,” Kawakami said.ĭuring a Honolulu press conference last week, Hawaii Lieutenant Governor Josh Green said he anticipates the state will welcome between 5,000 and 8,000 visitors per day under the proposed pretest plan. That proposal was denied by the governor on Monday, according to Kawakami. Late last month, Kawakami proposed a plan requiring post-arrival testing for all incoming travelers to Kauai intended to work in conjunction with the governor’s pretest plan. “We need more details on what an ‘opt out’ means for the counties, and whether that provides the option for us to implement a single-test post-arrival program,” Kawakami said. Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said in a statement Wednesday that his administration had not yet decided about whether the Garden Isle will opt out of the governor’s pretesting plan. “And we are committed to continually improving the program as we move forward,” he added. Earlier this week, concern mounted as calls from a number of elected Hawaii officials for a post-travel COVID-19 test threatened to again delay the destination’s tourism industry reboot.ĭespite his comments about considering other options if the county mayors opt out, Ige did say on Wednesday, “I’m confident that we’ll launch a program on Oct. The Hawaii governor has postponed the start of that pretest approach three times already this summer. Ige’s pretest plan for trans-Pacific travelers would allow visitors with proof of a negative COVID-19 test - taken no longer than 72 hours before departure - to bypass the state’s current mandatory 14-day quarantine. We have to have a second test upon arrival in Hawaii. There are so many variables involved in a pre-travel test that could make the tests unreliable.
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