HONOLULU — Hawaii’s governor requested Monday that guests and residents scale back journey to the islands to important enterprise solely whereas the state struggles to manage COVID-19 because the extremely contagious delta variant spreads locally.
Gov. David Ige desires to curtail journey to Hawaii by means of the top of October.
“It is a risky time to be traveling right now,” he stated.
He stated restaurant capability has been restricted and there is restricted entry to rental vehicles.
Ige stopped wanting a mandate, saying it is a completely different time now than final yr when strict journey guidelines that required quarantining basically shut down Hawaii’s tourism trade.
“Last year in March, when I first asked for visitors to postpone travel to the islands, we saw a 60% reduction in the traffic to Hawaii,” Ige stated. “And then certainly, ordering the mandatory quarantine of all incoming visitors reduced travel to the islands by 99.5%, essentially 100% of travelers.”
Things are completely different now with vaccines accessible and steerage from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying absolutely vaccinated individuals can journey domestically.
Ige stated he helps Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi’s announcement to limit indoor gatherings to 10 individuals and out of doors gatherings to 25.
Blangiardi stated the principles taking impact Wednesday would apply to weddings and different occasions.
He’s additionally urging individuals to get vaccinated.
Hiro Toiya, the town’s emergency administration director, cited a mathematical modeling device from the Georgia Institute of Technology for instance dangers the group confronted from massive gatherings.
The modeling reveals there’s a 20% likelihood that somebody in a gaggle of 10 can have the illness given the variety of COVID-19 circumstances on Oahu now. But in a gaggle of 100, there is a 90% likelihood somebody can have it.
“So when you’re looking at how transmissible delta is, we really got to control these large gatherings,” Toiya stated at a information convention. “The status quo is not working, and it’s not acceptable.”
Multiple Oahu hospitals have stuffed their common beds as COVID-19 circumstances pour into emergency rooms. The metropolis arrange a 25-cot tent outdoors The Queen’s Medical Center – West Oahu on Friday to assist deal with the inflow.