Hawaii plans to lift its COVID-19 quarantine requirement for travelers on March 25.
The ending of the state’s Safe Travels Hawaii program also means domestic travelers will not have to show proof of vaccination or negative COVID-19 test results. Additionally, travelers will not be required to provide travel information, nor will they have to comply with pre- and post-arrival screening.
Gov. David Ige announced the changes on Tuesday, adding that Hawaii’s indoor mask mandate would remain in place, however.
“The program put in place safety protocols that included a multi-layered screening and testing approach that kept our communities safe during the COVID-19 surges that endangered the most vulnerable of our citizens,” Ige said. “Right now, we are seeing lower case counts, and hospitalizations are coming down.”
Hawaii is the last U.S. state with a mask mandate. Ige noted he would revisit whether to drop the mask mandate after March 25.
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Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi told KRON that no additional COVID-19 restrictions would be added in his city once the Safe Travel Hawaii program ends.
“COVID is not over, but we’re going to go forward with living with this disease, and we’ll try to act as responsibly as we can,” Blangiardi said.
The online tourism resource, Hawaii Guide, noted how COVID-19 affected the state’s tourism and unemployment rates.
“Hawaii is effectively going to have to ‘reboot’ tourism wise, as the pandemic has significantly impacted the state,” Hawaii Guide stated.
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The state’s 14-day quarantine period was first implemented in March 2020. Hawaii is the only U.S. state to have implemented a COVID-19 quarantine program. It has touted one of the lowest COVID-19 infection rates in the country.
International travelers will still have to follow federal guidelines for entering the U.S.
