(TAN): Beginning August 1, visitors who test negative for COVID-19 no more than 72 hours prior to arrival in Hawaii, United States, will be able to avoid the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine, reports said.
Hawaii Governor David Ige reportedly said the plan will enable the state’s tourism sector to resume operations without a substantial rise in new cases of infection.
“We recognise that there are many concerns that continue. We believe this process of pre-testing does allow us to bring travelers back to Hawaii in a way that maintains a priority on the health and safety of our community,” Ige was quoted by Hawaii News Now as saying.
The testing programme is reportedly similar to what the American state of Alaska is doing. However, while Alaska provides a testing-on-arrival option, arriving out-of-state-visitors to Hawaii will be required to complete the test at the point of their origin since it is not practical for the islands to offer testing upon landing, reports said.
The island state will reportedly observe other measures in order to facilitate the possibility of reopening tourism and help locals to “live with the virus”. Hawaii will use thermal cameras at the airports to spot any passenger with a fever, a report said.
“For the state of Hawaii, we have approximately 240,000 unemployed people. We’re not going to see a return to a level of employment that we had before unless we open up to visitors,” Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell was quoted by Forbes as saying.
“It’s good news. Like everyone else, we’re being cautiously optimistic,” The Maui News quoted Maui Hotel and Lodging Association Executive Director Rod Antone as saying.
So far, COVID-19 has infected 866 people in the state and claimed 17 lives, data from Johns Hopkins University showed.
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