Hawaii Gov. David Ige has approved a plan for Kauai to reenter the state's Safe Travels Covid-19 testing program on April 5, which would lift the mandatory quarantine requirement currently in place on the Garden Isle.
As of April 5, out-of-state arrivals
will be able to move freely about Kauai immediately upon arrival
with proof of a single negative Covid-19 test from a state-approved provider taken within 72 hours of
the final leg of their journey.
"This emergency rule will simplify travel to Hawaii by including
Kauai in the existing Safe Travels program. The increased restrictions
over the winter months helped Mayor Kawakami safely balance travel with
the health and safety of residents and visitors on the Garden Island,"
Ige said in a statement.
Kauai was a participant in Safe Travels, which allows out-of-state arrivals to bypass a mandatory quarantine with proof of a negative result on an approved Covid-19 test, when the program launched on Oct. 15. But when the infection rate on the island increased, Kauai mayor Derek Kawakami decided in December to withdraw from the program and establish county-specific protocols.
Since Jan. 5, in addition to proof of a negative Covid-19 test prior to travel, Kauai has also mandated visitors spend 72 hours at a participating resort bubble at one of nine participating properties on the island and take a second post-arrival coronavirus test before being permitted to leave the resort grounds.
The reversal comes as vaccines are being administered on the island, with more than 20% of Kauai residents having received at least one dose of the vaccine, and county officials feel better equipped to handle an influx of travelers.
"With the distribution of the vaccine to high-risk groups and the improving situation on the mainland, the Kauai District Health Office supports opening transpacific travel with a single pretravel test at this time," Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai's District Health Officer, said in a statement.
Kauai is the only island not currently participating in the state's Safe Travels Program.
"I thank Gov. Ige for recognizing Kauai's unique rural community with limited resources, and allowing us to institute stricter testing and quarantine rules over the winter months as cases spiked on the mainland," Kawakami said in a statement. "Since that time, Kauai has built a robust vaccine distribution program. By April, we will have offered vaccines to our hospitality industry and restaurant employees, and our healthcare workers, first responders and kupuna [elders] will have been fully vaccinated."