HONOLULU (KHON2) — The City announced that a holiday weekend pilot curfew will take place on April 10 at 11 p.m.
The hours of the curfew will be between 11 p.m. through 5 a.m. on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights.
The curfew will end at 5 a.m. on Monday, April 13. This is a trial and may be extended to the duration through April 30. The decision for this extension has not yet been made.
“So what does this mean?” said Honolulu Chief of Police Susan Ballard. “If you’re out there, then the officers may stop you.”
Ballard says that there will be no vehicles allowed on the roadways (ex. cars, motorcycles, bicycles). Pretty much anything with a wheel. Grocery shopping will not be allowed during this pilot curfew but there are a few exceptions.
“For those people who are driving to and from work, for those people who are making deliveries, security vehicles, those who are trying to pick up medication, and also, of course, anybody who needs to go to the hospital or there’s an emergency, and of course, our first responders,” said Chief Ballard.
“It’s for a brief period during the evening. It’s a pilot for this 3-day weekend because of the Easter holiday. We are concerned more people may think it’s time to go out and do things,” said Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell.
“We would prefer you don’t walk just because of the hours and the safety that is involved, but as long as you’re not on wheels then you’re going to be safe,” said Chief Ballard.
Chief Ballard also says more officers will be patrolling the beach parks which are closed. Water activities for exercise are allowed but running or walking on the sidewalk inside the park is not.
“The only place you can run or walk is below the high water mark what does that mean? The easiest thing for me to relate to is if you’re running or walking in the water, you’re going to be ok. if you’re on the sand you’re violating the proclamation for the city,” she said.
The Mayor says more testing, especially rapid testing, for COVID-19 should be done. The city continues to hold free testing clinics like at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex this Saturday and so far hasn’t had to pay out of pocket.
“We are grateful for Dr. Scott Miscovich he has obtained the test kits and doing the testing free of charge,” said Mayor Caldwell. “He’s tested a couple thousand maybe more than that at this point and those numbers are helpful in terms of knowing where the virus is and where the concentrations could be.”
Chief Ballard reminds us again officers will be stricter on enforcement for any kind of road violation and they will be looking for people who may be violating the stay-at-order.
