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Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami is asking to withdraw from Hawaii’s pre-arrival testing program after dozens of new cases of COVID-19 have reached the island.
Kawakami today sent Governor David Ige a request for approval of Emergency Rule 23, which would temporarily suspend Kauai’s participation in the state’s Safe Travels pre-trip testing program.
If Ige approves the rule, effective December 1, all inbound travelers to Kauai – trans-Pacific and inter-island – would be required to self-quarantine for the full 14 days, regardless of testing.
“We are facing alarming numbers of COVID-19 on our island as well as across the country,” Kawakami said in a statement. “It’s not just a tourist problem. Almost half of our recent travel cases are from Kauai residents who have returned home. We know that a single test before the trip did not prevent the virus from reaching our island and we are saddened to report our first death on the island. We must take action to prevent the spread of disease here. “
Last week, amid already rising cases in the United States and Kauai, Kawakami asked Ige to consider two new emergency rules in the county that would tighten entry requirements for Kauai.
Kawakami had hoped to avoid returning to quarantine when he asked Ige to approve Emergency Rule # 21, which would require inter-island and transpacific participants in the Safe Travels pre-arrival testing program to quarantine. for 72 hours, then take a post-arrival test. They would remain in quarantine until a negative test result was obtained.
Ige, who didn’t approve a similar request from Kawakami in September, is unlikely to approve Kawakami’s latest rule change related to testing.
Nor is Ige likely to approve Kawakami’s Emergency Rule 22, which would require all travelers to have their negative test results uploaded into the Safe Travels program before flying to Kauai. If test results are not available on arrival, a 14-day quarantine will be required.
“Since the launch of the unique pre-travel testing program on October 15, we have confirmed 58 new cases and our first death on the island,” said Dr Janet Berreman, Kauai District Health Officer. “Forty-eight of these cases were travelers – 27 visitors and 21 residents.”
Kawakami added that a temporary deactivation of the Safe Travels program would allow the island to remain in that county’s Level 4 – the least restrictive level – for as long as possible.
“The withdrawal from the Safe Travels program would be independent of our tier system, which means we could stay at tier 4 longer,” Mayor Kawakami said. “It doesn’t make sense for us to change levels while still allowing more travelers. We should not penalize our people by restricting activities, such as sports for young people, when that is not the current source of infection.
RELATED STORY: Hawaii records 61 new coronavirus infections as state total climbs to 17,393
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