Hawai‘i COVID-19 Daily News Digest November 24, 2020

Posted on Nov 24, 2020 in COVID-19

Office of the Governor:

Tighter Restrictions Begin for Trans-Pacific Travelers Headed to Hawai‘i

Late yesterday, Gov. David Ige signed a 16^th emergency proclamation that requires all trans-pacific travelers to have a negative test result from a trusted testing partner before their departure to the State of Hawai‘i, in order to bypass the 14-day quarantine. The new policy officially began today. Gov. Ige said, “We are implementing this added layer of safety in response to the dramatically increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the continental United States and around the world. The health of our residents and visitors is our primary concern, especially as more people travel to our state during the holidays.”

Travelers heading to Hawai‘i must upload their negative test result to the Safe Travels system prior to departure or, as an alternative to uploading the form, present a hard copy of their negative test result to be verified by government officials upon arrival in the islands. The State of Hawai‘i highly recommends that all trans-pacific travelers bring the hard copy of their negative test result as a backup, even if they upload their negative test result to the Safe Travels system.

Travelers who did not have a negative test result prior to departing for Hawai‘i, must self-quarantine for 14 days or the length of their stay, whichever is shorter, without exception. The policy change does not affect inter-county travelers.

To view more:

https://governor.hawaii.gov/newsroom/office-of-the-governor-news-release-governor-ige-issues-16th-emergency-proclamation-tightening-restrictions-for-trans-pacific-travelers-heading-to-hawaii/

Department of Health:

61 New Cases Reported Today

This report includes cases reported up until Sunday at 11:59 p.m. Full data is posted on the State COVID-19 dashboard and on the DOH Disease Outbreak & Control website at noon each day. HawaiiCOVID19.com/dashboard

Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of 11:59 p.m. Nov. 22, 2020

Island of Diagnosis	New Cases	Reported since 2/28/2020 (including new cases)
O‘ahu	45	14,918
Hawai‘i	7	1,557
Maui	4	499
Kaua‘i	1	101
Moloka‘i	0	17
Lānaʻi	0	106
HI residents diagnosed outside of HI	4	195
Total Cases	61	17,393++
Deaths	0	233

++ As a result of updated information, one case from Hawai‘i Island was removed from the counts.

Hospitalizations as of 8:30 a.m. on Nov. 22, 2020 – Hawai‘i-8, Maui-2, O‘ahu-59, Kauai-0

https://health.hawaii.gov/coronavirusdisease2019/what-you-should-know/current-situation-in-hawaii/

Department of Public Safety:

Mass Inmate Testing Continues

A total of 125 pending mass testing results for Waiawa Correctional Facility (WCF) inmates shows 46 positive and 79 negative cases. The total number of positive cases at the facility is now 149 with one (1) inmate hospitalized. The rest of the inmate population has been placed in quarantine and will be retested as part of the surge testing effort. In addition, 10 staff members tested positive. DOH is conducting contact tracing. All WCF staff are in full PPE and the warden stopped all inmate movement last Wednesday to prevent further transmission within the facility and to the other facilities.

DOH testing of O‘ahu Community Correctional Center (OCCC) inmates and staff continues. Of the three (3) OCCC inmate test results received one (1) was positive and two (2) were negative. There are no OCCC inmates in the hospital. For more information on PSD’s planning and response efforts to COVID-19:

https://dps.hawaii.gov/blog/2020/03/17/coronavirus-covid-19-information-and-resources/.

Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority:

Hawai‘i Visitor Statistics Released for October 2020

In October 2020, visitor arrivals to the Hawaiian Islands decreased 90.4 percent compared to a year ago due to the COVID-19 pandemic, according to preliminary statistics released today by HTA. A total of 76,613 visitors traveled to Hawai‘i by air service last month compared to 796,191 visitors during the same period a year ago. To view more:

https://www.hawaiitourismauthority.org/media/5942/october-2020-visitor-statistics-press-release-final.pdf

10,515 Passengers Arrive on Monday

Yesterday, a total of 10,515 people arrived in Hawai‘i from out of state. A total of 5,299 people indicated they came to Hawai‘i for vacation. There were also 1,730 returning residents. The trans-pacific passenger arrival numbers are derived from data provided by the Safe Travels digital system.