445 visitors among Hawaii arrivals Tuesday as interisland quarantine eases

Some 445 visitors were among the passengers that came to Hawaii on Tuesday, which marked the lifting of the interisland passenger quarantine.

The Hawaii Tourism Authority reported today that 1,671 came to Hawaii on Tuesday. Visitors made up roughly 27% of the total passengers, who came to Hawaii on 19 flights from out-of-state.

The daily passenger count also included 556 returning residents and 121 people who said that they planned to relocate to Hawaii. As many as 190 of the passengers were airline crew members and 114 were transit passengers who didn’t plan to leave the airport. As many as 165 military members came to Hawaii on Tuesday.

The lifting of the interisland quarantine is expected to slightly bolster Hawaii’s beleaguered visitor industry. However, out-of-state daily passenger counts remain well below last year’s 35,000 a day average.

Some 80 of the arriving passengers had been granted exemptions to the mandatory 14-day self-quarantine, which is still in effect for trans-Pacific passengers through at least July 31. For questions regarding exemptions, contact CovidExemption@hawaii.gov.

According to data collected from the Hawaii Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Mandatory Travel Declaration Form, 80% of the visitors went to Oahu. However, another 11% went to Maui and 8% to Kona.

As many as 351 of the Oahu visitors disclosed the purpose of their trip on the form. Of those people, 12% came for business, 78% to see family and friends, 13 % to vacation and 4% to relocate to Hawaii. The percentages add up to more than 100% since travelers can choose more than one answer.

Regardless of what island that they are on passengers from out-of-state, who don’t have an exemption, must still adhere to the 14-day quarantine.

Though the interisland quarantine ended on Tuesday travelers still had to comply with newly enhanced screening. The state said, “Travelers may be prohibited from boarding a flight if they have an elevated temperature above 100.4 degrees, they refuse to complete the mandatory (travel and health) form, or they are on the 14-day quarantine list prohibiting them from flying.”

Despite the relaxing of interisland travel lockdown, passengers who arrived in Hawaii before Tuesday still must complete their 14-day quarantine period.

According Gov. David Ige’s ninth supplemental proclamation, all hosts of guests subject to a quarantine must ensure that the guest abides by the rules or they are in violation of the emergency order themselves.