Among easing COVID-19 restrictions across the country and Hawaiʻi counties, Governor David Ige announced the Safe Travels Program will no longer be in effect beginning March 26—exactly two years after the state’s first travel mandate. “Today, I am announcing that the Safe Travels Program will end when the current emergency proclamation ends on March 25,” […]
Updated, 7:30 p.m. On Sunday, Hawaiʻi recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 count—1,678 new cases—prompting government officials to come up with a plan to slow the spread of the highly contagious virus. So, beginning Sept. 13, anyone who wants to enter a restaurant, gym, bar, movie theater or other Oʻahu business will need to show proof
The COVID-19 surge in Hawaiʻi continues—and the state is adding more restrictions and this plea: Reduce travel to the Islands. Hawaiʻi’s 571 new COVID-19 cases today brings the state’s seven-day average case count to 671, with a seven-day average positivity rate of 8.3%. (On Oʻahu, the seven-day average positivity rate is 9.7%.) Hospital intensive care
With COVID-19 cases at an all-time high in Hawaiʻi, Gov. David Ige reinstated restrictions today on indoor and outdoor gatherings. Effective immediately, social gatherings are limited to no more than 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors. Indoor capacity is set at 50%, which includes bars, restaurants, gyms and churches. Mingling is not allowed at
Effective immediately Honolulu County—which encompasses all of Oʻahu—will move into a less-restrictive Tier 4 of its COVID-19 restrictions. This change allows social gatherings of up to 25 people outdoors, including at parks and beaches. Outdoors weddings can now have up to 200 people. But the group size for indoor social gatherings remains at 10 people.
A year ago I attended a small wedding at a local restaurant in Kaimukī. There were maybe 50 people in total, many of whom flew in from Washington and California to celebrate the nuptials. We weren’t wearing masks, we were crammed into a small private room—and we shared food! What were we thinking! That same
Diana Duff used to run a 3.5-acre commercial coffee farm on the Big Island, so gardening in a 32-square-foot shouldn’t be that thrilling. Oh, but it is. Duff, a 77-year-old resident of Mānoa Gardens Elderly Housing, revels in her raised bed garden outside her apartment, flourishing with heads of butter lettuce, kale, eggplant, mint, parsley,
If all goes well—meaning COVID-19 infection rates continue its downward trend—Oʻahu may move to Tier 3 of the city’s four-tier economic recovery plan. (Honolulu has been in Tier 2 since Oct. 22.) On Sunday the Hawaiʻi Department of Health reported 68 new infections and one death across the state. If the city can maintain a seven-day
Updated Oct. 14, 2020 Hawaiʻi will launch its pre-arrival testing program for trans-Pacific travelers on Oct. 15. That means, if you can provide a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of departure, you will not have to quarantine for 14 days when you arrive in the Islands. And with COVID-19 testing becoming more convenient and cheaper,
This is the news many frequent visitors to the Islands have been waiting for. Hawaiʻi Gov. David Ige announced today that out-of-state travelers with negative COVID-19 test results may be able to skip the 14-day mandatory quarantine upon arrival in the Islands starting Oct. 15. This much-anticipated pre-travel testing program—first announced back in June and postponed
