House Speaker Scott Saiki intends to introduce a bill that would make travel to Hawaii easier when the state's House of Representatives reconvenes on January 20.
According to KHON2, the proposal would require trans-pacific travelers to provide proof of a single negative COVID-19 test result taken within three days of arrival regardless of which island they're visiting.
"Travel is a big part of our statewide economy, and in order for all of us to benefit from travel all of the counties have to be on board," Saiki said. "We cannot be creating exemptions. If you do that, it disrupts this statewide system," he added, referring to the island of Kauai opting out of the state's pre-travel testing program last month. Kauai has since opted back into the program, allowing inter-island travelers with a pre-test to enter if they've been in the state for three days. Meanwhile, trans-pacific travelers can participate in Kauai's resort bubble program that includes a pre-travel test, three-day quarantine and post-arrival test.
While the proposal is welcome news for travelers, Hawaii Gov. David Ige has expressed concern that a uniform travel policy wouldn't allow for flexible response.
"I do think that flexibility is important, and we do see very different conditions in each of the counties," Ige said during a Facebook live stream on Friday. "For example...Kauai has the fewest hospital beds and ICU units, so they definitely are concerned about any kind of increase in cases, because it can very easily overwhelm the hospitals there. You know, versus Oahu, which we do have thousands of hospital rooms here, and definitely can handle more cases."
"The current system, as it exists, does allow me to issue statewide orders that impact everyone, but also allows the flexibility that we can take appropriate action in each of the counties to respond to what we see happening in the community."
Currently, travelers visiting Hawaii must have their negative test results in hand prior to arrival or face a 10-day mandatory quarantine. Visit GoHawaii.com/travel-requirements for the latest updates.
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