In revealing more information about Hawaii's pretravel coronavirus testing program, Gov. David Ige has said that
the program will not be available to children younger than 12.
Currently, all out-of-state arrivals to Hawaii must self-quarantine in their home or accommodations for 14 days. But starting Oct. 15, those who test negative for coronavirus within 72 hours of arrival will be able to bypass quarantine; the test must be a Food and Drug Administration-approved nucleic acid amplification test.
State officials are still working out how the program will work, including where the tests will be available and how the system for sharing test results with the state and authorities will operate. When the program was announced, Kaiser Permanente and CVS were named as testing partners, with more expected to be added to the list prior to the launch.
On Sept. 21, in an interview with the Honolulu Star-Advertiser streamed live on Facebook, Ige said the state's testing partners will not administer the coronavirus test to children younger than 12, and there will not be exemptions from the quarantine. Therefore, a family traveling to the Islands could have the parents test negative and eligible to forgo quarantine, but any child under 12 would still be subject to quarantine.
"We are focused on enabling more transpacific travelers to come," Ige said. "It won't be the ideal situation. It's not going to be accessible to everybody who wants to travel."
The governor went on to say that they are working to expand the program and hope to find a partner that is willing to test children. Those who take tests within the allotted time window but do not receive results prior to arrival must quarantine until a negative test result is confirmed.
While numerous international travel restrictions and bans remain in place, Ige is working with several Pacific Rim nations, including Japan, South Korea and New Zealand, on tourism reopening plans and including exemptions for Hawaii.
The governor also added that the state is working to expand its testing capacity, which will facilitate the easing of restrictions on interisland travel and other activities. Currently, travelers from Oahu to any neighbor island must also complete a two-week quarantine, as do travelers between neighbor islands. Travelers departing a neighbor island and arriving on Oahu do not have to quarantine. Oahu, the most populous island, has recorded 90% of the state's 11,689 total coronavirus cases as of Sept. 23.