Starting on Sunday, the Biden administration dropped the COVID-19 testing requirement for inbound air travelers from abroad, ending one of the last government mandates on travel since the beginning of the pandemic two years ago. That means negative COVID-19 tests are no longer required from travelers coming into the U.S.—including Hawaiʻi—from international cities. The Centers […]
After a federal judge in Florida struck down a nationwide mask mandate on airplanes, buses and other public transportation on Monday, many U.S. airlines—including Hawaiian Airlines—announced they would stop requiring masks aboard their flights. Masks are also no longer required at Hawaiʻi airports. This ends a two-year-long mask requirement from the Centers for Disease Control
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,”
On March 4, 2020, the City and County of Honolulu enacted an emergency order to fight against COVID-19. Businesses were closed—and later reopened under strict guidelines—and the Safe Access Oʻahu program was put into effect, which required restaurants, fitness centers and event organizers to verify that employees and customers were fully vaccinated or had a
There was a time—not that long ago—when you could hop on a plane and arrive in Hawai‘i with nothing more than your vacation essentials and a rough idea of what you wanted to do. COVID-19 changed all that. Much in the way the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11 forever changed the way we travel—strict security
Starting Nov. 8, non-U.S. citizens and other travelers arriving from international destinations can travel to the Islands under new federal requirements. The requirements are: For Direct International Travel to Hawaiʻi Non-U.S. citizens traveling directly to Hawaiʻi from an international destination must present both a vaccination record and a negative COVID-19 test result (NAAT or antigen)
Good news for anyone living on or visiting Oʻahu. As new COVID-19 cases continue to decline overall in the Islands—there were 184 new coronavirus cases reported on Tuesday statewide—Oʻahu is poised to loosen restrictions this week. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said today that bars and restaurants can stay open until 2 a.m. effectively immediately and
Nearly two months after Gov. David Ige said it wasn’t a good time to travel to the Islands—this was during the end-of-summer Covid-19 surge—he is now encouraging people to return to Hawaiʻi. In a press conference yesterday, Ige said Hawaiʻi will be “open to vaccinated residents and visitors who are traveling domestically and between islands for
The late-summer Covid-19 surge—spurred by the highly contagious delta variant—seems to be on the decline in Hawaiʻi, as new infection cases have consistently dropped below 200 a day. (In fact, on Tuesday, there were just 49 new cases reported statewide, the lowest single-day number since July.) And that decline has prompted Oʻahu officials to ease
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
Starting today, U.S. travelers who have been fully vaccinated can fly to Hawaiʻi from anywhere in the United States without quarantine or getting a COVID test. (Fully vaccinated means 15 days after the second dose in a two-dose series—such as Pfizer or Moderna vaccines—or two weeks after a single-dose vaccine like Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen
