LIHU‘E — Effective Friday, high-risk businesses — including bars, restaurants and gyms — can institute their own COVID-19 vaccination or testing policy for entry to reopen to 100% indoor capacity, according to a new county policy.
LIHU‘E — Effective Friday, high-risk businesses — including bars, restaurants and gyms — can institute their own COVID-19 vaccination or testing policy for entry to reopen to 100% indoor capacity, according to a new county policy.
For businesses that decide to not adopt their own program, they will be limited to 50% capacity indoors.
While the policy states that negative COVID-19 test results must be obtained within 48 hours to entry, no consultation or approval from the county is required. The county does encourage businesses to follow state and national guidelines in developing these policies.
Earlier this month, Gov. David Ige announced that bars, restaurants and gyms would be allowed to operate at 100% capacity in counties that had vaccination requirements for entry or showed a negative COVID-19 test from the past 48 hours, which, at the time, was only on O‘ahu and Maui.
Mayor Derek Kawakami said that businesses have already proven they know how to operate safely and that another state or county policy to operate above 50% capacity was not the direction he wanted to go.
“As a friendly reminder, all individuals and businesses in the State of Hawai‘i remain subject to the Governor’s statewide order relating to COVID-19,” a county spokesperson said in an email.
The statewide order also allows outdoor restaurants and bars to sit patrons closer than 6 feet or require masks outdoors. Indoor masking and social distancing requirements will continue.
What is wrong with this picture?
Bars, restaurants, and gyms can institute their own policies without any real guidance or regulation and reopen to 100% occupancy?
And those bars, restaurants, and gyms that do not institute their own policies (who in their right mind would not, however minimal?) must stay at 50%?
May I remind island residents what happened in January 2020 when Covid first appeared? Despite NO cases on Kauai, the roads were empty and most everyone was hunkering down, scared out of their wits. A night time curfew was put in place.
Now, cases on Kauai are rising faster than any of the other islands, even Oahu, and restrictions are going the other way.
HMMM. I think I may be less likely to go out to a restaurant or bar, and will opt to exercise on the beach, out in the open fresh air
Stay home and hide bro so the rest of us can enjoy life and get our businesses operating again at full capacity. Most of the nation is done with masks and restrictions for over 6 months now and life is going on as usual.
What happened to dropping all restrictions when 70% of the population is vaccinated that Ige promised? Just another example as to why we shouldn’t trust our government. Michigan, Kentucky and Florida have no such restrictions in any of their restaurants, bars, gyms or stores including the wearing of masks. I know this firsthand because I just spent 3 months there!
So we don’t even get a press release about this? Just a 24 hr advance article quietly placed in TGI about what business are allowed to do but not required to do.
News flash, 6 feet of social distancing requirements still don’t allow for 100% indoor capacity.
Soooo… Just in time for the holiday travelers. Any bets on if this will look like a great idea by around January or February?
For starters who says that bars, restaurants and gyms are high risk businesses? High risk because it’s difficult for any of them to make money considering the rules are inconsistent and make no sense? Governor Ige is attempting to divide our islands further by his requirements for businesses to mandate the vaccination in order to operate at full capacity. New flash Ige; did you know that even if you’re vaccinated you can contract and spread Covid? And a test 48 hours prior to dining out or working out is simply not realistic. How about if you’re not feeling well, STAY home! Let’s all use some common sense please. And stop calling it a VACCINE! It’s a shot, similar to a flu shot, not very effective and riddled with side effects. Vaccine’s of the past actually prevented the illness, this shot clearly does not. It’s time to resume our normal activities and lift all mandates. This is America and everyone should have the right to decide if they want the shot or not and no-one should have to decide between getting it or losing their job!