Gov. Ige to end Safe Travels but remains firm on indoor mask mandate

Gov. David Ige announced Tuesday that the Safe Travels Hawai‘i program and other COVID-19 restrictions will end when the current pandemic-related emergency proclamation expires March 25.

The Safe Travels program for domestic travelers arriving in Hawaii was set up in 2020 to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus in the community. Starting March 26, travelers will no longer have to set up a Safe Travels account or undergo screenings at isle airports.

Ige also said state and county employees would no longer be required to provide their vaccination status or proof of a negative COVID-19 test to their various departments or agencies after March 25. Likewise, the public will no longer need to provide proof of vaccination status or a negative test result to enter or do business on state property.

But the governor stood firm on his decision to keep the statewide indoor mask mandate in place until at least March 25, despite new guidelines from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Friday that allow most Americans to stop wearing them.

Hawaii remains the only state that has not lifted the mask mandate or announced plans to do so by a certain date, as cases from the omicron variant surge drop dramatically.

“The state Department of Health is reviewing the requirements and the changes in mask requirements and suggestions by the CDC,” Ige said during an afternoon news conference held in conjunction with the four county mayors. “We continue to monitor the COVID-19 cases as well as the hospital status and will be moving forward based on that information.”

Ige said the state would continue to monitor outcomes of changes to programs across the country along with CDC recommendations before making any changes to Hawaii’s statewide indoor mask requirement. Masks will still be required for indoor workplaces, he said, as well as public schools to help ensure they remain open for in-person learning.

Public debate over the role of face masks during the pandemic continues, with some parents clamoring for the state to drop the mandate. Several hundred U.S. public health researchers and practitioners, including pediatricians, posted an open letter in February urging elected officials to reevaluate the wisdom of ending school mask mandates.

“We do know that the mask mandate works, and we will continue having the indoor mask mandate,” Ige said, adding that DOH will review the latest science to determine when it will be appropriate to drop the requirement here.

On Tuesday, DOH reported 118 more infections statewide, bringing the state’s total since the start of the pandemic two years ago to 236,269 cases. No new deaths were reported, keeping Hawaii’s COVID-19 death toll at 1,334.

The seven-day average of new cases was 201, a 63% drop from two weeks prior, and the statewide average test positivity rate dropped to 2.7%.

Only 78 patients with COVID-19 were in Hawaii hospitals as of Tuesday, according to the state COVID-19 Dashboard, including eight in intensive care and seven on ventilators.

Although new coronavirus case counts and hospitalizations in Hawaii are dropping, Ige emphasized that “the pandemic is not over. Tragically, we continue to see those that we know and love continue to suffer from COVID-19. In the month of February we reported 143 COVID-related deaths. Each one is a tragic loss to our community.”

All four major Hawaii counties, meanwhile, have announced the repeal of COVID-19 restrictions.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi on Monday announced that the Safe Access O‘ahu program, which requires proof of vaccination or a negative test to enter restaurants, gyms and other establishments, would expire at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. COVID-19 restrictions on Maui, Kauai and Hawaii island already have been lifted.

The Safe Travels program allowed travelers to bypass a mandatory five-day quarantine if they could show proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test taken no more than 72 hours prior to departing on the final leg of their trip to Hawaii.

Ige said the state has screened more than 11 million passengers, including visitors and returning residents, through Safe Travels, and he thanked the numerous public and private partners that made it possible.

“Safe Travels is one part of a multi-layer approach to COVID safety,” said John De Fries, president and CEO of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, in a statement. “The program played a key role in keeping Hawaii’s residents safe before vaccinations were widely available, and during the surges we’ve seen through this pandemic. Bringing the Safe Travels program to a close reflects the progress we have made as a state, and Gov. Ige’s decision is a good balance of maintaining reasonable health precautions while reopening our society and economy.”

International travelers are still subject to federal requirements that include showing proof of an up-to-date vaccination document and negative pre-travel COVID-19 test taken within one day of travel.

Ige said the state was prepared for another potential COVID-19 surge down the line, having “tremendously increased” its testing capacity almost tenfold since the start of the pandemic and with the greater availability of home test kits.

Pop-up vaccination and testing clinics will eventually be scaled back, he said, with the state shifting those responsibilities to more traditional health care locations such as pharmacies, clinics and physicians’ offices. But the state still will be ready to respond to surges as needed, Ige added.

Both the governor and mayors continue to encourage all eligible residents to get vaccinations and boosters as the best defense against COVID-19.

As of Tuesday, DOH reported 76.5% of Hawaii’s population had completed a primary vaccine series, and 37.5% were boosted.