News Releases from Department of Health

Office of the Governor:  First International Flight Under Safe Travels Program Arrives  International travel to Hawai‘i resumed today with the arrival of 64 travelers from Japan on an All Nippon Airways (ANA) flight from Haneda Airport in Tokyo. The visitors are the first to take part in the state’s pre-travel testing program that now includes […]

Department of Health:  Complete COVID-19 Data Available on Newly Expanded Dashboard  The COVID-19 dashboard has complete statistics, visualizations, graphs and charts on all health and economic related factors. The dashboard is updated at 3 p.m. daily: HawaiiCOVID19.com/dashboard. For a second day in a row DOH is reporting triple digit cases with 100 new coronavirus infections today. No […]

Office of the Lieutenant Governor:  Safe Travels Testing Evaluation Program Update  Known as a strategic surveillance study, the Safe Travels Testing Evaluation Program, collects and evaluates data from COVID-19 testing of travelers after they’ve arrived in Hawai‘i. Lt. Gov. Josh Green said, “We are at a critical point in the pandemic, where we need to […]

Office of the Governor: Additional Trusted Testing Partners Sought for Domestic Travel Governor Ige announced today that the state is seeking additional “trusted testing partners” for domestic transpacific travel as part of the state’s pre-travel testing program. Governor Ige also revealed the two requirements and at least one of the six criteria needed to become […]

Department of Health: State & Federal Team Deploys to Lāna‘i Next Week for Support DOH continues to work closely with healthcare providers on Lāna‘i to support community outreach, testing and contact tracing. Two (2) new cases of COVID-19 were added to the islands’ counts today for a total of 98 confirmed coronavirus cases. Next week […]

Department of Health: Cases on Lānaʻi Slowing and Hawai‘i Island Cases Leveling The overall statewide daily case average is trending down, at 84 today. There were three (3) new COVID-19 cases reported on Lāna‘i today by DOH. The cumulative total now stands at 97 confirmed cases on the island (reported since Feb. 28). Large social gatherings and […]

Department of Health: Seven New COVID-19 Cases Reported on Lāna‘i There were seven (7) new COVID-19 cases reported on Lāna‘i today by DOH. The cumulative total now stands at 94 confirmed cases on the island (reported since Feb. 28). The active community cluster currently includes 93 confirmed and 3 probable cases for a total of […]

Governor’s Office: Hawai‘i Expands Pre-Travel Testing Program to Japan Gov. David Ige made the announcement at a news briefing this afternoon that Japan is being added to Hawai‘i’s pre-travel testing program. Starting Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, travelers from Japan may bypass the State of Hawaiʻi’s mandatory 14-day quarantine if they take a COVID-19 test from […]

Governor’s Office: Governor Signs Stay-At-Home Order for Lāna‘i As Lāna‘i continues to see a spike in COVID-19 cases, the island is being put under a stay-at-home order starting Tuesday to mitigate the spread of the virus. The order was signed by Gov. David Ige this morning. It goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Maui Mayor […]

Department of Health: Three (3) COVID-19 Deaths Reported Three (3) COVID-19 deaths were reported today by DOH. All three (3) were on O‘ahu. Two (2) deaths involved men, 80+ years old, who were hospitalized with underlying medical conditions. The third death was a woman, 80+ years old, who was also hospitalized with underlying medical conditions. […]

Governor’s Office: State, City Leaders Responding to COVID-19 Cases on Lāna‘i  In a news briefing today, Gov. David Ige addressed the recent COVID-19 cases on Lāna‘i. Gov. Ige said, “We are working with Maui County Mayor Mike Victorino, Sen. English and Rep. DeCoite to aggressively respond. Department of Health (DOH) is sending a testing team […]

Governor’s Office: State Adds Partner to Trusted Testing Partners List for Inter-County Travel  The State of Hawai‘i has added Diagnostic Laboratory Services (DLS) to the list of eight other trusted testing partners for inter-county travel. Inter-county passengers arriving in Kauaʻi and Maui counties may bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine if they take an FDA-authorized Nucleic […]

Governor’s Office: Pivot Grant Program Launching to Help Small Businesses During Pandemic  Help is on the way for thousands of small Hawai‘i businesses. At a news briefing today, Gov. David Ige announced that the State of Hawai‘i is partnering with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii to launch the Hawai‘i Business Pivot Grant program. The program […]

Governor’s Office: Government, Private-Sector Partnership Double Food Bucks to Help Hawai‘i Families, Local Agriculture The State of Hawai‘i is matching a donation of half a million dollars from a hui of private-sector organizations towards the DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks program. DA BUX doubles the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits spent on locally grown […]

Department of Health: One (1) COVID-19 Death Reported One additional COVID-19 death was reported today by DOH. It involved a woman from O‘ahu over the age of 80, who had an underlying condition and was hospitalized at the time of her death. DOH also reported 89 new COVID-19 cases today. Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of […]

Governor’s Office: Safe Travels Program Officially Launches The Safe Travels Hawai‘i program has officially launched. The first trans-pacific flight arrived mid-day today. Under the Safe Travels Hawai‘i program, travelers now have the option of taking a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) from a trusted testing partner, and if given a negative result for COVID-19, allowed to bypass […]

Governor’s Office: DOH Approves Japan’s Testing Procedure for Pre-Travel Testing Program DOH has approved the COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) authorized by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. Proof of a negative test result from trusted testing partners in Japan will allow travelers from that country to bypass the 14-day quarantine upon arrival […]

Governor’s Office: Governor Announces Additional Details on Pre-Travel Testing Program  Governor Ige held a news briefing today to discuss additional details of the pre-travel testing program, which is set to launch Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020. All counties will be participating in the pre-travel testing program, which allows travelers to bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine, though […]

Office of the Governor: Free Meal Program Extended for Students at 203 Hawai‘i Dept. of Education Schools Hawai‘i DOE’s free Grab-and-Go meal program is being extended for students at 203 schools from today through Dec. 18, 2020. The announcement comes after the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture announced it would extend funding for its Summer Food […]

Department of Health: Two Deaths and 155 Additional Coronavirus Cases Reported Today  Hawai‘i’s COVID-19 death toll rises to 166 today with the deaths of two O‘ahu residents. One was a man 50-59 years old with underlying conditions who had been in the hospital. A woman, 80+ years-old also had underlying conditions and had been hospitalized […]

Department of Health: One Death and 101 Additional Coronavirus Cases Reported Today  Another death has been reported today, raising Hawai‘i’s COVID-19 death toll to 164. The latest case involved a woman, between 50-59 years old who had underlying conditions and was hospitalized at the time of her death. Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of 12:00 noon, […]

Governor’s Office: Pre-travel Testing Program Begins Oct. 15 Hawaiʻi’s pre-travel testing program requires passengers five and older to take a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) from a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) certified laboratory within 72 hours from the final leg of departure and produce a negative result in order to avoid the state’s 14-day […]

Department of Health: Three Deaths and 83 Additional Coronavirus Cases Reported Today  The deaths of three (3) women from O‘ahu, raise Hawai‘i’s COVID-19 death toll to 160. All three women had underlying conditions. Two were 80+ years-old and both died at home. The third woman was 60-69 yrs. of age and died in the hospital.  […]

Department of Health: One Death and 52 Additional Coronavirus Cases Reported Today A woman from O‘ahu, who was older than 80-years-old is reported as the 157th death in Hawai‘i since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. She had underlying conditions and had been in the hospital. DOH is reporting 52 new active cases today. Hawai‘i […]