Hawaii Gov. David Ige urges tourists to stay home amid COVID surge: ‘Now is not the time to visit the islands’
October, travelers have been able to visit by presenting a negative COVID test to bypass the state’s strict quarantine. In July, the testing requirement went away for vaccinated travelers.
There has been speculation the testing requirement would return due to the spike in COVID cases from the delta variant but Ige said that is difficult to do since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says domestic travel is safe for vaccinated travelers.
Ige said he has talked with airlines, hotels and other tourism businesses about spreading a message that this is not the time to visit Hawaii except for essential business. He said he asked them to “do what they could” to curtail tourism.
“I think it’s important that we reduce the number of visitors coming here to the islands,” he said in a separate interview Monday with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “Certainly, I expect cooperation from the visitor industry.”
Asked about the governor’s request to limit visitors, Hawaiian Airlines spokesperson Alex DaSilva released a statement late Monday.
“We are acutely aware of the stress on our health care system imposed by new COVID-19 cases, and our hearts go out to those affected,” he said. “We continue to believe that the single most valuable measure to address this crisis is increasing the vaccination rate in our community, which is why we have announced our intent to require our employees to be vaccinated.”
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