The Hawaii Tourism Authority will pay visitors to leave if they don’t abide by the state’s quarantine rules.
Democratic Gov. David Ige mandated that visitors to the state must quarantine for two weeks after arriving in March. The tourism agency has now set aside $25,000 to buy flights for tourists who are caught breaking the quarantine order.
“So far, with $25,000 in funding from the Hawai’i Tourism Authority, the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawai’i or VASH has paid to send 19 people back to their airports of origin during the COVID-19 crisis,” Hawaii’s Health Department said Thursday.
Hawaii’s Attorney General Clare Connors said the move will help police in the state enforce measures taken to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus.
“The ability to return people quickly to their airports of origin during the coronavirus crisis greatly assists law enforcement’s ability to ensure the success of our statewide emergency measures,” Connors said in a statement. “The fact that scarce government funds do not need to be expended for these return trips also helps fulfill the mission of keeping Hawaii safe.”
There have been 604 cases of the coronavirus in Hawaii and 14 deaths, according to the state’s health department.
