LIHU‘E — Mayor Derek Kawakami closed all bars, visitor activities, entertainment centers and houses of worship Saturday, with an emergency rule that also limited social gatherings to 10 people.
Kawakami also announced new requirements for county beach parks Saturday. All non-Hawai‘i residents must obtain a day-use permit for being in any county beach park. Park permits are $5 per person. Each non-resident individual, regardless of age, must have a separate permit. The number of permits will be limited to 100 permits for beach park usage, per day, islandwide, to encourage social distancing.
A parking fee of $50 per vehicle, per day, will also be required for non-Hawai‘i residents. Proof of payment of the parking fee must be displayed in the windshield of each vehicle parked within a county beach park parking lot. Any non-resident without a permit can be found guilty of a misdemeanor, a fine of not more than $5,000, and/or imprisoned not more than one year.
“While we support the recently-announced mandatory 14-day quarantine by Governor David Ige, visitors are still allowed to travel to Kaua‘i and many remain on island,” said Kawakami in a Saturday statement. “Our residents and local businesses have worked hard to follow current guidelines, and are understandably frustrated when they see visitors at our parks and beaches blatantly disregarding social distancing and other enhanced health measures. This rule will help to ensure proper social distancing in our shared public spaces,” said Kawakami.
Ige also announced further preventative measures against the spread of COVID-19 Saturday, instituting a mandatory 14-day quarantine starting Thursday of all people traveling to the state via any mode of travel.
The order applies to returning residents as well as visitors traveling internationally or from the U.S., but, as of Saturday, not to interisland travel.
Failure to follow this order is a misdemeanor and punishable by a maximum fine of $5,000, or imprisonment of not more than one year, or both. Enforcement will be handled by each of Hawai‘i’s four counties, according to the Governor’s Office.
“We need to come together as a community to fight this virus,” Ige said at a news conference in the state Capitol. “This mandate is the first of its kind in the nation. We want this action to send the message to visitors and residents alike that we appreciate their love for Hawai‘i, but we are asking them to postpone their visit.”
Under the governor‘s order, any individual who arrives from international areas or the continental U.S. will be subject to a two-week quarantine, Kawakami reiterated on Saturday.
“Kaua‘i has been eagerly awaiting this action, and will join the rest of the state in enacting this 14-day quarantine for anyone entering the state,” said a Saturday press release from the county.
“Mayor Kawakami said the county fully supports the state’s traveler quarantine. Realizing that as each day that goes by more and more cases are being confirmed positive, he has asked all hotel and lodging accommodations to have their guests stay within the boundaries of their property while visiting the island,” said Ige.
The state announced 11 new cases of people with coronavirus Saturday, bringing Hawai‘i’s total to 48. Three of them are hospitalized. Three cases are on Kaua‘i, under state Department of Health supervision, all in isolation.
The U.S. Army announced a soldier with the 25th Infantry Battalion based in Hawai‘i tested positive for coronavirus, the first case linked to the Army community in the state, Hawai‘i News Now reported. The soldier is in isolation.
The mandatory 14-day self-quarantine orders as outlined by the Governor’s Office:
• Proceed directly from the airport to your designated quarantine location, which is the location identified and affirmed by you on the mandatory state Department of Agriculture Plants and Animals Declaration Form;
• Remain in your designated quarantine location for a period of 14 days or the duration of your stay in Hawai‘i, whichever is shorter;
• If you are a resident, your designated quarantine location is your place of residence;
• If you are a visitor, your designated quarantine location is your hotel room or rented lodging;
• You can only leave your designated quarantine location for medical emergencies or to seek medical care;
• Do not visit any public spaces, including but not limited to pools, meeting rooms, fitness centers or restaurants;
• Do not allow visitors in or out of your designated quarantine location other than a physician, healthcare provider or individual authorized to enter the designated quarantine location by the director of the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency;
• Comply with any and all rules or protocols related to your quarantine as set forth by your hotel or rented lodging;
If you become ill with a fever or cough:
• Continue to stay in designated quarantine location, avoid contact with others and contact a healthcare provider for further instructions on treatment or testing;
• If you are older or have any medical conditions (e.g., immune compromise, diabetes, asthma), consult your regular health-care provider;
• If you feel you need medical care, contact a health-care provider and inform them of your travel history.
If you need urgent medical care (e.g., have difficulty breathing), call 9-1-1 and let the dispatcher know your travel history.
Day-use permits for county beach parks can be obtained at: www.eventbrite.com/e/county-of-kauai-day-use-beach-park-permit-fee-covid19-tickets-100651073069.
Thank you for taking these measures. I am in Michigan, but have been to Kauai many times. The thought that travelers are continuing to come to Kauai is appalling. This beautiful island has very limited health care resources and should not need to use them for visitors who choose to ignore warning and come. Respect the island. Stay home.
In fact, do not go anywhere and protect your own community.
…because only non-Hawaii residents carry the scary virus? do Hawaiians not travel or carry disease?
The Mayor is announcing these restrictions and permitting requirements for non-residents because unfortunately he can’t keep them from flying to Kauai or restrict them completely from county parks and facilities. And for whatever reason our Governor either can’t or won’t keep them out of the state. But these restrictions will only work if police actually enforce them.
negativity won’t help the situation the world is in, keep it to yourself
This is a good move, why has it taken so long to announce it? And once announced, why delay it?
Imposing fines and fees on JUST visitors is irrational! Any and all people at parks should be fined or need to pay a fee. No one should be out, social distancing is required of ALL people, not just visitors. Stop punishing the people who just happened to be here during this awful time. They are no more contagious than any islander! We are ALL human beings! No other state in the country or any other country for that matter, is kicking out visitors! Residents do not own the public spaces, either.
They didn’t just happen to be here. They came even though there is a world wide epidemic (pandemic) and they came through airports and flew in tight quarters on planes breathing recirculated air. They have taken a chance with their health doing that and now with ours being here.
Most of our cases are from people who had been travelling.
Our residents deserve to get out for walks and swims and surfs as long as we do not congregate in groups. Our Mayor has agreed to that.
While I support measures taken to try to protect our residents the aforementioned quarantine measures are not adequate. The only way we will not be overloading our medical system here is if we turn all non-residents away, and close hotels for weeks or months. The above 14-day state quarantine plan mentioned in this article has the potential to effectively turn each hotel into the “Diamond Princess”. Those hotel workers will be in an unsafe working environment and will likely carry the virus back to their loved ones and we will have community spread.
I’m curious that our leaders are more worried about tourist than about the local people they are supposed to represent.
It seems we can’t close our airports because doing that would require Federal approval. But don’t we control the roads In and out of our airport. I suggest we could close the road to only essential traffic, as was done on the Mauna Kea access road. Tourist are not essential traffic.
Residents trying to return home should go directly home for a 14 day quarantine
How long does it take to do the testing to see if someone is positive with the virus?. All incoming passengers should be tested before leaving the airport.
They really should have been tested and cleared before they were able to board a plane here.
Anyone flying should have to be tested and cleared before being able to board any plane leaving any airport.
Another option would be to limit travel from the airport by requiring all visitors to board buses and have monitored convoys to their hotel similar to what our Haena residents had to experience.
At this time visitors should not be allowed to rent any vehicle for 15 days.
Visitors should not be allowed to roam freely. They have made the Selfish choice to come here , rather than stay home and ride this out, as we the residents of Hawaii are trying to do. Visitirs should realize they are unwanted people in our house and our house rules say for them to stay put , you are in timeout.
These are suggestions . I’m sure there are probably some better ones, that collectively We could think of.
Thank you mayor Kawakami. This is so needed to stop groups of visitors at our beaches, most not following the 6 foot rule and yet it still allows residents to get to the water. We need to get to the water.
VISITORS, VISITORS, VISITORS! That is all you say……..Visitors are non-essential travel on roads, but residents heading to the beach is essential? Those visitors who were there before this hit, are just as affected as residents! Stop punishing those who put food on your tables. These new measures at parks should be for all, not just visitors. SOCIAL DISTANCING IS FOR EVERYONE! I guess residents are completely immune! NOT! No one wants to get sick! Just plain HATRED!
First of all this does go for everyone not just visitors and most of us know how to follow rules!!!! No one is trying to punish you for being here if you already are. Alot of us follow the rules and maybe if you havent noticed yet we do live on very small islands with limited health care and everything still has to be shipped here. this is our home and we have no where else to run to if the virus spreads rapidly so please take your self-pitty home with you where ever you came from we here worry about our ohana and our kupuna. Whats not to get????? Ya we live here
Hawaii residents need to practice social distancing, the better term being physical distancing. And Hawaiians need to stop traveling too.
But it’s very important to get rid of all tourists right now. Our emergency might be equipped with handling of emergencies of tourists, but it is not equipped to handle thousands of more people that will need medical care like ventilators. And the people that are willing to still come here when they have been told to stay away don’t care about infecting us. I know I don’t want our hospital beds filled up with tourists that shouldn’t be here and the 80 year old that can’t get the care because there is no bed or ventilator for them. That could be our father or mother or grandmother or grandfather and that is the choice they are making in other countries right now.
Can visitor’s get groceries between the airport & their lodging?
no, they will have to get food from their resort or deliverys.
14 day mandatory quarantine: remain in your hotel room or I see nothing in the announcement that addresses one very important human need, and a less important one. Governor and the folks who support this without thinking through the details. HOW LONG can **you*go without food? Two weeks? WHO’S GOING TO PROVIDE FOOD FOR all the people who are essentially locked up for two weeks if they do not have family or friendly, humanitarian neighbors nearby where they are quarantined. Who’s supposed to manage that – FEMA? National Guard? Local churches? The Governor and his staff? ….. And then there’s laundry. Who does that for 2 weeks? Those aren’t the only things that need to be provided for the detainees while they’re on what amounts to house arrest? …And people coming into Hawaii are not all “selfish visitors”. They’re business people, returning Hawaiians and …your kids. Your kids, whose college has shut down, so there’s no place wherever they are for them to go, except home. Home: incarcerated for 2 weeks. Are any of you people who think that 2 week quarantine is a brilliant idea going to step in and deal with these realities that happen as soon as humans are “locked in’ anywhere for any reason.
things for people to consider BEFORE GETTING ON A PLANE TO COME HERE!
Blame Hawaiian airlines for bringing in all the visitors because United , Delta,Alaska,American their arrivals is coming in pretty much Empty where as for Hawaiian Airlines they get 3-4 arrival every hour and god knows how many passengers on each flight. Hawaiian Airlines Don’t Get to fool of your selves
I am confused I thought when Mayor Kawakami made the announcement and said “Kauai is on vacation” I thought non-essential travel was not allowed. The curfew from 9:00 pm to 5:00 am is moot. as most people are already home. Now as I’m reading this news article visitors continue to pour in. And whose going to police whether visitors are really complying of being confined to their hotel for 14 days. Governor Ige of course doesn’t care about Hawaii because he doesn’t have to run for office, he is termed out.
Kauai voters remember Mayor Kawakami in the next election. You thought he was tough, he was looking out for Kauai. In fact, he was only looking out for himself like any other politician.
The lack of common sense is ridiculous here on the Island. The smartest decision made yet is the 14day quarantine to stop tourism. But seriously if things are to be enforced they should be for travelers and locals alike. I have not seen a tourist drive a bunch of pick ups on to a beach to have their own luau. Also the curfew is a joke I can see familiar trucks sitting on the cliffs every night fishing and hanging out.
We make our living on the visitors and treating them poorly Creates a rift between us and them.
IT IS FUELING HATERED!
Yes! Most cases are from Residents who were traveling and returned! AND I was talking about the visitors who arrived before it was known how bad this was, when I said “happened to be there”
This is distressing to see many people think that this is about residents vs. non-residents. The reality is that we have entered a time of making personal sacrifices whether financial, physical or recreational. We must act as one with the goal of mutual safety. This is a potentially lethal virus and without a unified response of self sacrifice we will be fighting this for many months or years to come. If collectively we can inspire each other to make these sacrifices we may be able to iradicate this virus more quickly.
Like I said, Gov. Ige don’t care about Hawaii, he doesn’t run for re-election he is termed out. Mayor Kawakami lied when he said, “Kauai is on vacation.” meaning leisure (vacation) visitors are not allowed. As a matter of fact, visitors continue to pour in and they are the only one allowed on our beaches while residence are told to stay home. Wow….mayor Kawakami, you really think Kauai residents are that stupid. You even got the President of the Kauai Chamber of Commerce stand beside you to endorse your lies.