HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. David Ige on Thursday said he would extend the state’s 14-day quarantine requirement for travelers arriving in the state beyond June 30.
HONOLULU — Hawaii Gov. David Ige on Thursday said he would extend the state’s 14-day quarantine requirement for travelers arriving in the state beyond June 30.
The state mandated the quarantine beginning on March 26 to control the spread of the coronavirus.
The governor told a joint online press conference held with the state’s four county mayors that an official announcement on the extension would be made later.
Ige said he’s been working with the mayors on lifting a separate 14-day quarantine requirement for people traveling between Hawaii’s islands. He said a decision would be coming within the next few days.
Maui Mayor Mike Victorino said he wants to make sure steps are taken to control the virus.
“I’m willing to open up with necessary safeguards to prevent spread between islands,” Victorino said.
Completely clueless Governor. You are bankrupting your own state. Hawaii produces nothing. Tourists are all you have. Get a clue.
Dictator for a governor. Putting people in jail for moving their car? You are bankrupting your state. All you have is tourism. Ashamed you are an American.
In the US, the probability of dying from Covid19 is about 3-4 times greater than dying from a traffic fatality. In Hawaii so far this year more people have died from accidents involving a vehicle than from Covid19.
Are the Covid19 restrictions and the economic consequences they are causing really proportionate to the level of risk to life involved ?
Guv Ige has sounded the death knoll for businesses, both large and small, that rely on tourist dollars, especially the dollars that flow during the summer season.
Good luck to restaurants which try to open at half capacity (social distancing mandated) and who are using to selling entrees for $25+. Local residents are running out of money and can only occasionally afford a $12 takeout plate. Things will only get worse when federal emergency funding dries up. Only the uber-rich will be able to afford to live life in the manner in which they are accustomed.
Good luck to the County and State bean counters when they realize that there is NO Transient Accommodation Tax being collected and that General Excise tax revenues are less than 50% of what they were previously and still falling precipitously.
Good luck to County tax collectors when they realize that 50% of property owners are struggling to figure out how they could afford to pay their property taxes come August.
Good luck to County and State employees when the County coffers run dry and can no longer warrant paying salaries to our bloated bureaucracy.
Good luck to all those people who hate tourists and think that the lack of tourism, the state’s economic driver, will never affect their income. Just wait and see.
Good luck to our keiki and their teachers when the State comes to its senses and realizes that monies allocated for our public school system is drying up rapidly.
Good luck to those who think that opening up quarantine-free arrivals from neighbor islands will do much to alleviate our economic hardship.
Good luck and be ready for civil unrest once the funds dry up and everyone starts joining the food lines, which will slowly be less and less able to feed the populace.
Good luck to local farmers when hungry people start raiding your farms in search of something to eat.
Good luck to us all.
For the sake of our populace, the government should pay for the best testing possible for all those arriving from the mainland, recoup the cost by charging arriving passengers, and allow them to enjoy Kauai quarantine free, and let the chips fall where they may.
Protect the vulnerable and open Kauai up to tourists and tourist dollars, or start listening for the bells. That is the death knoll you’ll be hearing, the death of life as we know it.
Even though the news won’t cover it, people who work at Wilcox actually know, that Kauai has already had 9 NINE suicides in the past three weeks, thegardenialand has only reported 4! But there have been five more since.
For perspective, Kauai has an average of 12 suicides annualy (1 per month on average) and in a period of three weeks, Kauai has seen nearly the amount of suicides it sees in 9 months.
Majority of the suicides were breadwinners to their families, who were suddenly left penniless and without any income. Most of them suffered in silence, and took their lives when they felt that all hope was lost..
How many more suicides, drug use, and alcoholism will Kauai need to see before it opens up again? Especially now that people know that the island will remain closed past the end of June, with no planned reopen date, any thread of hope that many were holding unto is now lost…
Wake up Mayor K, wake up Governor I. You are toying with the lives of your own citizens. If you continue down this road, the amount of COVID deaths will pale in comparison to the number of shutdown related deaths!!!!
Unfortunately, it appears that neither the governor, nor the mayor are interested in solutions, they are more keen to having the problem exist longer, so that they can continue with their power grab, and for other reasons of greed and politics chose to prolong the situation, rather than resolve it.
Cmon, even New York, the worst hit state is already starting to reopen, surely Hawaii, which is near the bottom of the list of affected states can fully reopen. Other states that have reopened have not only not seen an increase, they actually continue to see a drop in cases!
The shutdowns were never meant to stop, or eliminate the virus, that’s mostly impossible to do, you can only slow it’s spread, and that’s what they mean when they say “flatten the curve”, which means to cause the virus to spread slower, so as not to overwhelm the medical system, the intent everywhere, was to buy time by slowing down the spread, and with the time bought, the hospitals, and clinics can make the necessary preparations to deal with the virus, and not be overwhelmed by it.
If you’re worried about the virus spreading after a reopen, call in the army core, as other states have done, have them setup temporary field hospitals, with ventilators, and military medical personnel, just in case it becomes necessary, and by doing so, the medical system is not affected, and the island can be reopened. Suffice it to say that the federal government covers the cost of such initiatives, at least it has in all other states…
Mr. Governor, Mr. Mayor, please put your pride, and any other motives aside, think of your people and Open Hawaii!!!