On Dec. 16, Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed an emergency proclamation lowering the state’s mandatory quarantine period for travelers from 14 days to 10 days.
The change, which took effect on Dec. 17, reflects new guidelines released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Hawaii Department of Health earlier this month.
The shortened quarantine period will apply to travelers who choose not to participate in Hawaii’s Safe Travels program, which was enacted on Oct. 15.
Under that scheme, returning residents and visitors who receive a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of traveling are exempt from quarantine restrictions.
To take part in the program, travelers must take a nucleic acid amplification test from a list of trusted partners and upload a negative test result to the state’s Safe Travels app before departure.
Visitors who fail to comply with these requirements will have to quarantine for 10 days upon arrival.
Hawaii currently accepts COVID-19 test results from over 25 approved testing partners, including American Family Care, Bartell Drugs, CityHealth Urgent Care at Oakland Airport, Costco/AZOVA, CVS Health, Kaiser Permanente, UC San Diego Health, University of Washington Medicine, Walgreens and XpresCheck.
The state’s trusted travel partners include Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines, Southwest Airlines and United Airlines.
A full list of Hawaii’s trusted testing and travel partners can be found on the state’s COVID-19 website.
Some testing partners, including CVS, are experiencing high demand due to a surge in holiday travel and are unable to deliver test results within the required 72-hour window. As a result, travelers may need to make alternate testing plans at short notice.
The Safe Travels quarantine exemption applies to all Hawaiian islands except Kauai. As of Dec. 2, all intrastate and trans-Pacific visitors to Kauai are subject to the state’s mandatory 10-day quarantine.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the CDC is discouraging Americans from traveling over the holiday season.
The agency urges all people who choose to travel to get tested for the virus before and after their trip. All airlines require passengers to wear masks for the duration of their flight.
