Ige Extends Out-of-State Travel Quarantine

Governor David Ige. PC: State of Hawaii

Hawai‘i has extended its 14-day mandatory travel quarantine for out-of-state arrivals through the end of July, Governor David Ige announced Wednesday.

Ige said the state is working toward and would find a “safe and secure manner” to restore trans-Pacific flights and breathe life back into the state’s beleaguered tourism industry, but he offered no specifics on what that process would look like other than that it would be a “system of layered screening.”

The challenges, the governor continued, are that COVID-19 infection rates are incommensurate from market to market. Several states in the Western US, like California and Oregon, have seen spikes in cases in recent days, while states like Alaska and Idaho have kept a stronger lid on coronavirus spread.

Safe travel corridors, which are identified as areas with similar COVID-19 infection rates to Hawai‘i, will be a priority in the phased approach to welcoming back mainland and international travelers. The governor mentioned Japan, South Korea, New Zealand and Australia when discussing potential safe travel corridors, from which Hawai‘i is likely to see its initial flow of incoming travelers.

Also with the signing of his 9th Emergency Proclamation Wednesday, Ige cemented the lifting of Hawai‘i’s interisland travel quarantine on June 16 and extended the state’s moratorium on evictions for renters through the end of July.