Hawaii’s newly implemented pre-travel testing program is working, but has issues

It’s been almost a week since the October 15th start of the new pre-travel testing program. The system is working, but not without some issues. Per an estimate provided to Hawaii News Now, the Safe Travels application has gone smoothly for about 80% of travelers.

Here are some updates on the pre-travel testing program and how it’s working:

– The data through the first five days of the Safe Travels program reveals that 45,410 people were screened. Of those 38,063 were exempted from quarantine and 6,474 were quarantined. Some of those 6,474 would-be travelers who did not receive their test results prior to arrival and have had to quarantine until they receive a negative test result.

– Some travelers have had issues uploading their test results into the Safe Travels application which has resulted in a lot of frustration as described by this KHON story. One piece of advice from that story is to upload the PDF form into the Safe Travels account. A screenshot of the results is not sufficient and triggers a manual review.

– On Hawaii (Big) Island they’ve implemented a second rapid test upon arrival, per Lt. Gov. Green’s update yesterday, over 3,000 pre-tested people have been screened and none of them ended up being confirmed positive.

– Some travelers have not been getting their pre-travel tests from a trusted partner. The State of Hawaii will accept test results ONLY from TRUSTED TESTING AND TRAVEL PARTNERS.

– KITV’s Annalisa Burgos provides her first-hand experience participating in the new Safe Travels program as she traveled from Los Angeles to Honolulu.

– Gov. Ige announced the approved testing partners in Hawaii for inter-island pre-travel testing.

– Hawaii (Big) Island County will be joining Kauai and Maui counties to allow inter-island quarantine exemptions for travelers who pre-test up to 72 hours before departure. They’re also offering an option to test upon arrival, then quarantine until a negative result is received. Read more about this news from West Hawaii Today.

– How welcome are travelers? At least two Kauai eateries are asking that travelers not dine with them per this KHON story. This Star Advertiser article shares some of the conflicted feelings residents have about travelers coming back to the state. We hope not many of them are selling and wearing the T-shirts mentioned in the article. Eek!

– Some travelers have not been adhering to rules for wearing masks or failing to socially distance resulting in over 4,500 warnings for violations per KHON.

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A new video from the Hawaii visitors bureau provides some new travel tips for the new normal:

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If you are planning a trip to Hawaii, we recommend you review the following official resources to guide you through the processes:

The post Hawaii’s newly implemented pre-travel testing program is working, but has issues appeared first on Go Visit Hawaii.

October 21, 2020
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