Hawaii Governor Tells Potential Tourists Not To Visit As Hospitals ‘Fill’ With COVID Patients

Hawaii Governor David Ige urged potential tourists not to visit the islands amid a wave of coronavirus case, claiming that it is “a risky time to travel right now”.

“I encourage everyone to restrict and cut back on travel to Hawaii,” Ige said at a press conference Monday. “Now is not the right time to travel to the islands.”

Ige said travel should be limited to “essential business activities only”. Visitors, he said, will not have the “typical” vacation they would expect, as restaurant capacity has been limited and rental vehicles are limited.

Ige’s warning comes as Hawaii continues to see an increase in COVID cases and hospitals have reached capacity. There have been more than 9,300 new cases in the past two weeks, according to the state health department. The majority of the new cases have been in Oahu, one of the most popular Hawaiian destinations for travelers.

“We are seeing more COVID patients in our hospitals and intensive care units are filling up,” Ige said on Monday. “We know we need to act now to reduce the spread of COVID and ensure our hospitals are not overwhelmed. ”

Dr Elizabeth Char, director of the state’s health department, said in a statement that the COVID outbreak is mainly due to community spread and people flying to sensitive areas and “bringing COVID back”.

“If things don’t change, our health care systems will be crippled,” Char said, “and those in need of medical care for all types of illnesses, injuries and ailments, including our visitors, may be in dire need. struggling to get the treatment they need. one way. “

Char said COVID cases have increased “over the past 10 Mondays.”

Hawaii Tourism Authority President and CEO John De Fries said visitor numbers are starting to decline, which is typical as fall approaches.

“Our community, residents and the visitor industry, are responsible for working together to address this crisis,” De Fries said in a statement. “As such, we strongly advise visitors that now is not the right time to travel and that they should postpone their trips until the end of October.”

Ige also reiterated the importance of good hygiene, wearing masks, social distancing and vaccination to prevent the spread of COVID-19, as well as the importance of testing to be able to track the spread.

“We know that vaccines are effective in preventing death and serious illness, including hospitalizations,” said Ige, noting that the vaccine Pfizer has received full FDA approval a few hours before his press conference.

Sixty-two percent of Hawaii’s citizens have been fully immunized, according to the state.