LIHU‘E — In line with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines, the state shortening its mandatory, 14-day quarantine to 10 days, effective Thursday, Dec. 17.
And those who arrived on Kaua‘i on Dec. 7 will retroactively be included. Instead of getting out of quarantine Dec. 21, those who came in will be able to get out of quarantine four days earlier, Dec. 17.
Mayor Derek Kawakami said the county is waiting for formal confirmation of the change from Gov. David Ige’s office, but has begun informing travelers.
The county is enforcing the quarantine of all incoming travelers, regardless of a pre-travel test or origin. This suspension of the state’s Safe Travels program is temporary, county officials said. This measure was implemented as a way to get ahead of a small spike in COVID-19 infections as well as stay in Tier 4, the least-restrictive to businesses and activities.
Friday, Kawakami called an increase in the county’s COVID-19 case count “disturbing,” as the state Department of Health reported four new cases. Two were deemed community-spread and the others travel-related.
DOH Kaua‘i District Health Officer Dr. Janet Berreman said the majority of recent cases have been residents, not visitors, and more than half of these have been through community acquisition.
“This means that the virus is circulating in our community — although still in small numbers,” Berreman said in Friday’s COVID-19 update from the county.
The county currently has 15 active cases in isolation, with one hospitalized on O‘ahu.
“Our community-acquired cases cannot be linked to any specific place or activity. They are appearing in widely-separated locations around our island, meaning the threat is islandwide.”
Contact tracing is ongoing, but Berreman said, “We rely in you — our community members — to support our efforts by continuing safe practices and continuing your kokua when we call you,” Berreman said. “Although we may be breathing a sigh of relief due to the reduction in travel, the rise in community disease transmission means we should be wearing our masks at all times when we are outside our homes and around other people.”
Sunday, the county will continue its free community surge testing at Hanapepe Stadium from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. The county offers the testing at rotating locations through the end of the year. For a full list of locations and to pre-register, visit kauai.gov/testing.
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Sabrina Bodon, public safety and government reporter, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
It seems odd that the County Causes Covid Clusters.
Why would the County invite people to where people who are positive gather to be tested. We don’t want to go there…!
Furthermore, the people who do the testing, are they using swab sticks that are 6’ long? or just 6”…seems scary and contaminating, that the people breathe pd on all day are only 6” from your uncovered nose, mouth, and eyes.
And the head to toe haz-mat garb of the people giving the test, do they change their body covering between each person tested or do they just let the Covid-19 virus just accumulate on their body coverings, and masks etc., or do the people running the tests just use their contaminated street clothes?
Maybe the County is causing the spread at the test centers.
it’s sort of like trying to avoid wasp stings by inviting people to the WASP NEST…say just who is running this program, a bunch of WASPS…?
if you’re not already infected come on down to the test center and we’ll be sure you get the virus, take it home and spread it to tutu and family and friends.
Or maybe spread is county intentional in order to reach herd immunity. Now that’s the best idea yet.
And shortening the Quarantine from 14 days to 10 when every scientist should know it takes the immune system’s immune process 14 days to defelop immunity and you become Non-contagious. Ignorance of the immune system is not a valid excuse even for an untrained Gov. or Mayor or Lt. Gov, or Health Dept doctors.
The mayor thinks 2, 3, and 4 positive people out of 70,000 of us is disturbing? Disturbing what…his golf game or counting his millions, or lounging on the grass with his family while our citizens, formerly hard working, are in food lines.
And shutting down small businesses for months while letting big box businesses to continue, allowing bigger contagion cluster center businesses to,remain open taking income from small businesses..ain’t that discrimination.
If wearing masks and 6’ distance worked, while ignoring virus contagion in the eyes but no eye protection from easy eye contamination…now we know how it is spreading yet all the king’s horses and all the king’s men couldn’t put a pair of tight fitting goggles on the Humpties…why, what, is there a limit to being ridiculous, or would dark glasses and masks increase haul cane train robberies?
Dr. Janet, a lot of things free, like getting exposure at the Covid-19 test centers is not worth it…!
Getting contaminated by the natural Covid-19 virus that statistics show is safe for 99.8% of the people and the statistics on death by virus are only 6% correct,,and those dying have end of life diseases and toxic prescription drugs daily, seems like,the safest thing is to get the Covid-19 virus and let the paranoid risk takers get the risky rushed lab disease vaccine, fingers crossed, and live to see another precious day.
Maybe best to let Nature run its course, so far what the minds of men and women are doing is not working.
We are arriving on kauai Dec 29th for 4 months and hope we will be able to quarantine in the condo we have rented. Will that be possible. We can’t afford the resort fees .
Aloha Mary Jo,
I think you are OK to Q in a condo. But best be sure so call our Mayor’s office. Just search Kaua’i.org or some such and look for the phone #, the office is very helpful and if they cannot answer with certainty they will refer to another number.
E komo mai Kaua’i.
Any reason why they shortened this period? I don’t see a reason to shorten it. 14 day would be more beneficial. This quarantine and face mask wearing looks like it will be going on into the 2021 year and add some. I don’t see it disappearing. Not unless they want to see a spike in COVID-19 CASES. i GUESS we can buy more mask and gear up for the next year. Forget about sports and stuffs. They will be dropping like flies if they continue on course.
The county is concerned!?! So it’s safe for the rest of the world to not have quarantine and the places that have it are now only 10 days but we need 14? What a joke. Our Dear Leader Kawakami won’t be happy until every business on Kauai is closed and we are all on welfare. Great strategy to accelerate gentrification! Hope you all like Anini , since we will all be living there in tents soon.
Open the island soon please, this lockdown is destroying our lives!