KHON is reporting that “Maui Mayor Michael Victorino is planning to make all transpacific travelers take a post-arrival COVID-19 test due to the uptick in cases on Maui. Mayor Victorino is beefing up Maui County travel requirements.” Anyone who declines or tests positive must quarantine for 10 days, even if they took the pre-test 72 hours prior to departure. Maui District Health Officer Dr. Lorrin Pang said the Safe Travels program is not fool-proof. “Too many infected people who come in, it’s not picking them up,” Pang said. “They’re negative at the time they get the pre-travel test, but they are incubating and bringing it in.”
On MauiNow.com, the Maui mayor acknowledged “challenges are anticipated, especially during the three to four hour period when 10-12 trans-Pacific flights arrive.”
“Sometimes flights are delayed,” adding an extra element to factor in, and some days the “crunch time” can include even more flights on the schedule.”
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The good news is that travelers won’t have to pay for the secondary test upon arrival in Maui. The County will pick up the tab.
Kauai reopens to tourism, offers free post-travel COVID19 tests to visitors
According to KITV, the island of Kauai is no longer requiring a secondary test on arrival, which they used to. Instead, the Garden Island is offering free voluntary COVID-19 tests to visitors after arrival. “Those who take it and test negative receive a Kokua Kauai Card for discounts and freebies from more than 80 businesses. The Kauai Chamber of Commerce, Kauai Visitors Bureau and the Kauai Chapter of the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association are promoting the program. Businesses interested in joining may apply online at the Chamber website, kauaichamber.org/KokuaCard.”
I know, your head must be spinning from all the changes because mine sure is. It’s confusing. My best advice is to look up the rules of each Hawaiian island directly or see gohawaii.com/travel-requirements because they’re not identical.
Everyone has to still provide a negative COVID-19 test on arrival no matter if you’ve been vaccinated or not. Hopefully, it will change once the state’s implements the new rules which are coming soon.
For now, it looks like arriving on Maui could take a bit longer especially during that crunch time period so time your flights accordingly. For those vaccinated travelers, your trip to Hawaii will probably be a lot smoother in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
What exactly are rules for kauai? What if you have the vaccine, do you still have to test 72 hrs. prior to arriving in Lihue?
Everyone has to still test no matter if you’ve been vaccinated or not. Hopefully, it will change once the state’s implements the new rules.
Have you seen the car rental rates on Maui? They are charging $200 to $700 per day. It costs more for a car than a condo rental.
Yes! Crazy there and almost every where
Are we one nation? Seems like these Governors are acting like we are the European Union. If we are going to be like the EU then we don’t need anyone in Washington. I guess that is really the way our nation was supposed to be.