At a Senate committee hearing, Dr. Bruce Anderson with the Hawaii Department of Health said there are talks to extend quarantine orders for travel within the state, but one county mayor is calling for more action by requesting a total stop in travel.
On Maui, there have been at least 16 confirmed cases of Covid-19, Mayor Mike Victorino said he wants to keep the numbers low by halting traveling coming into Maui.
Victorino said, “I would like to make sure that inter-island is shut down except for essential services and essential personnel moving around the state.”
Mayor Victorino said only 11 visitors landed on Maui county on Thursday, the first day of the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
The Hawaii Tourism Authority will be contacting the hotels so they are aware when they have quarantined passengers, but Victorino has concerns.
Victorino said, “The self-monitoring is not as easy as we thought it might be, until we have the necessary manpower to make sure it happens, it is still a concerning factor. “
Although there is now a possibility the same quarantine rules will apply to people flying within the state according to Anderson.
Anderson said, “There’s some consideration now of banning or requiring a 14-day quarantine for inter-island travel as well, I am not sure if a decision has been made on that.”
As for Victorino, whose jurisdiction includes Molokai and Lanai, where Covid-19 has not been detected, he does not want to risk the chance of the disease spreading.
Victorino said, “I think that’s better than nothing at all, I’ve been professing a shut down to really stop the virus from spreading into the community.”
The mayor also said during this time, he would rather have residents return on direct flights to Maui and not through Honolulu, that way, the county can keep its own tally on its arrivals.
