Mayor Michael Victorino announced today that social gatherings on Maui County will be limited to 10 people, effective Friday.

Victorino has sent his update to the county’s Public Health Emergency Rules, which applies to both indoor and outdoor gatherings, to Gov. David Ige for approval.

“Today, our state reported a triple-digit increase in COVID-19 cases for the second-straight day, including four additional new cases for Maui County,” Mayor Victorino said in a news release. “We’ve had 42 cases this month, compared to just four in May and three in June. This rise in cases statewide continues to concern me and there have been many reports of large parties, drum circles and other gatherings, which could jeopardize the safety of our keiki and kupuna.”

Large gatherings have been linked to recent COVID-19 cases on Maui County.

Currently, up to 100 people are allowed to gather in outdoor settings in the county, and as many as 50 people can do so indoors, although groups within those gatherings are already limited to 10 people.

The update includes banning the use of tents and pavilions on beach parks.

“They seem to have gatherings. (People) seem to congregate around that,” Victorino said in a press briefing Wednesday. “Just like grilling. … When we did not allow people to grill at our parks and beaches, it seemed to have reduced gatherings.”

Victorino has also urged Ige to reinstate the 14-day interisland quarantine for his county. The interisland quarantine ended June 16.

Ige said in a press briefing today that he will discuss the issue with Victorino Friday, but after a “quick look” at available data it appears that there have not been many recent travel-related COVID-19 cases in Hawaii.

“We see about 13,000 interisland trips that are occurring every week, and the number of COVID cases that are tied explicitly to interisland travel is very few,” Ige said. “I have a meeting with the mayor tomorrow. We hope to get better data, and I know that we will be discussing the reinstatement of the travel quarantine.”