Hawaii asks tourists not to visit amid surge in COVID cases

HONOLULU, Hawaii — Hawaii Gov. David Ige is asking imaginable tourists not to sojourn the islands done the extremity of October arsenic the authorities battles an summation successful COVID-19 patients owed successful ample portion to the delta variant.

At a press conference connected Monday, Ige said Hawaii is seeing much COVID-19 patients successful its hospitals, and “the ICUs are filling up.” According to the state’s wellness department, determination person been much than 9,300 caller cases successful the past 2 weeks, with a bulk of the caller cases successful Oahu.

The authorities is asking some residents and visitors to trim question successful Hawaii to indispensable concern activities only, according to Ige.

“I promote everyone to restrict and curtail question to Hawaii, residents and visitors alike,” said Ige.

The politician said it’s not a bully clip to sojourn the land for a assortment of reasons, including coronavirus restrictions affecting concern capacities.

“Restaurant capableness has been restricted, determination is constricted entree to rent-a-cars, and we cognize that the visitors who take to travel to the islands volition not person the emblematic benignant of vacation that they expect to get erstwhile they sojourn Hawaii,” helium said.

The president of the Hawaii Tourism Authority, John De Fries, besides said successful a statement that visitors should see postponing their travels to the islands.

“Our community, residents, and the visitant industry, are liable for moving unneurotic to code this crisis,” De Fries said. “As such, we are powerfully advising visitors that present is not the close clip to travel, and they should postpone their trips done the extremity of October.”

Ige said the authorities is taking enactment to combat the coronavirus connected the islands.

“We cognize that we request to instrumentality enactment present successful bid to trim the dispersed of COVID and guarantee that our hospitals are not overrun,” helium said.

Ige signed an enforcement order earlier this period limiting societal gatherings to nary much than 10 radical indoors and nary much than 25 outdoors. The bid besides says patrons successful restaurants, bars, and societal establishments indispensable stay seated with parties maintaining astatine slightest 6 feet of region betwixt groups, and masks indispensable beryllium worn astatine each times but erstwhile actively eating oregon drinking.

The metropolis and region of Honolulu besides announced Monday that each ample organized gatherings connected O‘ahu volition beryllium suspended done Sept. 22 and it whitethorn beryllium extended.

Ige said the authorities is besides expanding efforts to supply investigating crossed the state. He added that it whitethorn instrumentality six to 7 weeks to spot a important alteration successful the fig of cases arsenic a effect of the actions being taken.

The politician said that getting vaccinated is the astir important happening you tin bash to support yourself and others from COVID-19, arsenic good arsenic assistance the authorities and state instrumentality to normal. He added that 62% of the state’s residents were afloat vaccinated arsenic of Monday.