COVID Travel: Hawaii Imposes New COVID-19 Travel Restrictions; Holiday Travel Plans Disrupted
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/AP) -- Less than a month after several airlines restated flights to Hawaii from San Francisco Bay Area airports, the surge in new COVID cases threw holiday travel plans to the sunny Islands into jeopardy.
Gov. David Ige has announced that anyone flying to Hawaii will be required to have a negative COVID-19 test result prior to their departure for the state, with the new rule going into effect two days before Thanksgiving.
Until now, passengers flying to the islands using a pre-travel testing program were permitted to arrive and then upload their negative test results to a state database, allowing them to skip two weeks of quarantine.
However, some travelers who arrived in Hawaii without their test results wound up later testing positive. That, in part, prompted the rule change, Ige said at a news conference.
The new program goes into effect Tuesday, just ahead of the holiday.
To bypass the 14-day quarantine, travelers must have the correct type of COVID-19 negative test results from one of the state's trusted testing partners, Ige said.
"If test results are not available before boarding the final leg of their trip, the traveler must quarantine for 14 days or the length of the stay, whichever runs shorter," he said.
Those who arrive without having their negative test results before departure will not be able to skip quarantine, even if their negative results become available shortly after they arrive.
Passenger have always had the option to not get tested at all and quarantine in their hotel rooms or homes upon arrival. Travelers will continue to have that option.
