Governor Expands COVID Emergency Rules, Including Mask Mandate and Travel Restrictions

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Governor David Ige on Friday extended his COVID emergency proclamation, including the statewide mask warrant and the Safe Travels program for transpacific passengers, saying the variant crisis Delta has eased but is not yet over.

The proclamation will be in effect for at least 60 more days – and could last longer.

Ige also doesn’t budge on his position for sporting events.

This week House of Representatives Speaker Scott Saiki asked Ige to allow a limited number of vaccinated fans into the stands when the UH football team play their return match. Ige, however, said large gatherings are always a problem and urged people to watch the game at home or in bars.

Gatherings on Oahu are limited to 25 outdoors or 10 indoors.

“We are concerned that events that attract large gatherings or 1,000 people, even if they are vaccinated, we are aware that vaccinated people can be infected, they can be asymptomatic,” he said.

Saiki said the governor’s ban on spectators could do more harm than good. “You put the sports program on the line,” he said. “You also perpetuate the perception that our state is closed.”

Before the Delta surge increased infections, hospitalizations and deaths on the islands, Ige had said all COVID restrictions would drop when Hawaii reached a 70% vaccination rate.

As of Friday, 68% of the state’s population was fully vaccinated.

“With the Delta variant, everything has changed,” the governor said at a press conference on Friday afternoon, noting that the seven-day case average remains above 300.

“COVID continues to cause high infection rates across our state. We continue to monitor the health care situation on our islands, but we believe it is important to extend the emergency proclamation. “

The extension comes despite a sharp drop in COVID cases and hospitalizations.

Ige did not say if he would extend the proclamation again, and added that he did not have a framework for deciding when the emergency rules would disappear altogether. “I am aware that many states have dropped all restrictions and we continue to see a high number of cases,” he said.

The extension of the proclamation comes the day after the deadliest month of the pandemic in Hawaii. In September, the state reported 193 COVID-related deaths, up from 52 in August.

The new proclamation is almost identical to the previous one, but states that employers are not required to pay for employee COVID testing under vaccine or testing policies. This too:

Requires the wearing of masks indoors in public places and businesses;
Keeps the Safe Travels program in place, forcing travelers who do not show proof of vaccination or a negative COVID test to self-quarantine for 10 days.

The governor, however, said visitors should continue to stay away from Hawaii.

He said he works with the hospitality industry when the time comes to greet people once the numbers drop.

“The industry has let me know that it takes time to ramp up. They would like at least two weeks’ notice before any material changes, ”he said.

“I am committed to working with them and actively promoting, as we did in August. “

At the end of August, as COVID cases increased, the governor urged visitors to stay away until infections subsided. In the weeks that followed, arrivals to the islands plummeted.

State Health Director Dr. Libby Char noted that although Hawaii’s vaccination rate is high, there are still about 248,000 people in Hawaii who are unvaccinated.

Of these, about half are eligible for shooting. The others are children under 12.

This story will be updated.

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