Kawakami requests Harmless Travels pause
LIHU‘E — Mayor Derek Kawakami is asking Gov. David Ige to briefly choose-out of the state’s Secure Travel program beginning Dec. 1.
Kawakami proposed the neighborhood crisis rule Tuesday in an endeavor to stage off an uptick in COVID-19 conditions claimed on the island.
“This is not just a tourist trouble,” Kawakami explained in a push release. “Nearly 50 % of our latest travel circumstances are Kaua‘i people who returned residence.”
Since the state’s Oct. 15 reopening, the county has noted 58 new scenarios and its 1st on-island dying, which was noted Monday. The bulk of these conditions, 50, were being travel-related, 14 of which ended up diagnosed elsewhere.
The remaining 10 instances were deemed group unfold between people who did not travel, in accordance to point out Office of Wellness Kaua‘i District Wellbeing Office environment Officer Dr. Janet Berreman on Tuesday.
“We have not found sustained group transmission in our county because July, so these circumstances are incredibly about,” Berreman mentioned in a push launch. “It is obvious that the Risk-free Travels method is not sufficiently preserving Kaua‘i from an alarming increase in circumstances.”
If Ige ended up to approve this choose-out, it would be a short term pause in the county’s participation in the state’s pre-vacation take a look at application that lets fliers to bypass a 14-working day quarantine with a destructive COVID-19 exam. This would be applied to citizens and website visitors coming from in or out of condition. Modified quarantines would continue to be in area for essential workers.
This is the third of a few principles Kawakami has submitted to Ige in the last two weeks.
One particular rule, to demand fliers to add their COVID-19 check prior to flying into the state, was instituted statewide and began Tuesday.
A second rule, to need a obligatory, article-arrival examination subsequent a a few-working day quarantine to be introduced, is continue to being regarded as by Ige.
“We know that a one, pre-vacation check has not stopped the virus from reaching our island, and we are saddened to report our first on-island dying,” Kawakami claimed. “We ought to get motion to avert the further more distribute of disease listed here.”
This 3rd rule, to choose out, was prompted by Ige denying a mandatory put up-arrival exam for Kaua‘i in early Oct, prior to the Secure Travels program’s launch.
A person of the targets of temporarily opting out would be to increase the lifespan of the county’s Tier 4 for inhabitants, which is the the very least restrictive of 4 that determine which functions and businesses may perhaps be open primarily based on constructive circumstance counts.
The county currently has a rolling, seven-day everyday average of 3.2 cases, which is previously mentioned the Tier 4 threshold of 2. new cases every day. If the county continues over 2. for two weeks, it will move to additional restrictive measures, which it is on keep track of to move by the first 7 days of December.
“It can make no sensible sense for us to shift tiers whilst still allowing extra travelers,” Kawakami stated. “We shouldn’t penalize our nearby people by restricting activities, these types of as youth sports, when which is not the latest resource of infection.”
The county settled on a Dec. 1 day in the proposed rule to give men and women time to regulate options, “but shortly sufficient to make essential adjustments,” a spokesperson explained.
Today, the Kaua‘i County Council will vote on a resolution urging Ige to permit the county to have a publish-arrival exam program.
If a submit-arrival take a look at application were being to be permitted, the county has stated it would purchase additional tests for the method. The county is also considering other pandemic-response tactics applied in the spring, like curfews and seaside-park person expenses.
“I never propose to know how to very best control the other counties or the condition as a full,” Kawakami claimed. “But our compact, rural community in this article on Kaua‘i desires to take pause from an influx of vacationers, and at the time yet again obtain regulate of this virus as we had for so several months right before. I will gladly repeal the rule after we reach this purpose.”
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Sabrina Bodon, general public security reporter, can be arrived at at 245-0441 or [email protected].