He said he doesn’t plan to tighten regulations despite the rise in cases, citing the fact that more than 70% of eligible residents on Oahu have been vaccinated. We are in this fight together, and if you have yet to get your vaccination, I strongly urge you to do so as soon as possible.” “At this point vaccinations are key to easing restrictions, and hopefully ending the tier system altogether. “We continue to make solid progress as a community in our fight against COVID,” Blangiardi told reporters separately. Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi expressed concern about the uptick in cases but defended the city’s decision to lift most restrictions on gatherings. Honolulu also moved into Tier 5 of its pandemic reopening plan this month, allowing indoor social gatherings of up to 25 people and outdoor social gatherings of up to 75 people.Ī previous version of this story incorrectly said Honolulu moved to Tier 4, not Tier 5. The increase comes after state and county officials had moved cautiously to ease COVID-19 restrictions, including allowing vaccinated travelers to fly to Hawaii without having to quarantine or take a COVID-19 test amid an influx of tourists. “The fact that the Delta variant is so much more highly transmissible means we do need to expect continued rapid increase in case counts.”
It is continuing to increase,” Janet Berreman, Kauai District Health Officer, said. “What we are seeing is rapid and exponential rise and it is showing no signs of diminishing. Denby Fawcett/Civil Beat/2020Ī week of triple-digit cases in Hawaii has sparked growing concern about the spread of the Delta variant, which has been blamed for a nationwide surge.
Health officials urge people in Hawaii to wear masks indoors. The state also reported three deaths on Thursday, including a fully vaccinated woman between the ages of 60 and 69 who had multiple underlying conditions, raising the state’s total to 527. “What we’re seeing here is widespread community transmission around the state,” Brooks Baehr, spokesman for the Health Department, said at a press conference.
Health officials noted the cases are spread throughout the islands and said the majority of infections are among people who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19. The group's president, Mufi Hannemann, said it is not yet clear if people will be willing to travel.Hawaii reported 243 new coronavirus cases Thursday, the highest single-day total since January, and officials warned a highly contagious variant will keep the numbers rising. The importance of public health measures has been reiterated by local hoteliers, for whom the lucrative end-of-year holiday season is normally a critical period.Ĭurrently, only around half of the hotels have reopened, according to the Hawaii Lodging and Tourism Association. "How quickly we can put people back to work is going to depend on the success of public health interventions, and testing, and screening that the state is putting in place," Mannis said. Ahead of the changes, Avi Mannis, the airline's senior vice president of marketing, predicted that the relaxed rules will entice some travelers to fly but many are expected to stay grounded well into 2021. Hawaiian Airlines recently announced layoffs for 30% of its staff. Major players in Hawaii's visitor industry hope the relaxed quarantine will help relaunch tourism but are preparing for a slow recovery. On the first day of the relaxed travel rules, the number arriving airline passengers more than tripled compared with recent weeks but still represented a fraction of the pre-pandemic level. The concourses have been marked by shuttered concessions shops and public address announcements directing people to quarantine.Įconomy 'Will I Have A Place To Live?' Scrambling To Survive After $600 Benefits End Inouye International Airport has been largely empty. That, combined with public concerns over the safety of flying, tanked Hawaii's tourism-centric economy.įor seven months, Honolulu's Daniel K. In addition to the business closures and restrictions on large gatherings common across the country, Hawaii was also the first state to require out-of-state travelers to quarantine upon arrival. Joblessness rose to Great Depression-levels in the spring following shutdown orders that local authorities issued in March. Hawaii has some the highest levels of unemployment in the country. Hawaii has seen a more than 90% reduction in the number of air travelers arriving since the start of the pandemic. Inouye International Airport in Honolulu.
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