Hawaii’s governor tells tourists to stay away and residents to stay home as COVID spikes

HONOLULU — Because of skyrocketing COVID-19 cases, tourists should stay away from Hawaii and residents should limit travel to essential business at least through the end of October, said Gov. David Ige.

“Now’s not a good time to visit Hawaii, " Ige said. “We have limited capacity in the restaurants, we see continuing case counts here.”

“I expect cooperation from the visitor industry, " Ige said. “... They certainly don’t like it, but they are supportive of getting that message out. ... They want to be helpful in stemming this surge in COVID cases.”

Most new cases are the result of residents traveling off-island and coming back home to spread COVID-19 in the community, Ige said.

“I’m asking all residents and visitors alike to restrict travel, curtail travel, to Hawaii to essential activities only.”

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Asked about the possibility of another statewide shutdown, which crippled the visitor industry in 2020 and led to the highest unemployment rate and worst economy in the nation, Ige said.

“Another shutdown is really the last resort.”

Meanwhile, large gatherings on the island of Oahu will be suspended for four weeks beginning Wednesday, Mayor Rick Blangiardi said today.

Events that will be prohibited include weddings, funerals, sporting events and other attractions such as the Van Gogh Exhibit at the Hawaii Convention Center in Honolulu.

People will still be able to gather in groups of 10 people indoors and 25 people outdoors.

The change will not apply to church gatherings, but indoor services will be expected to maintain distancing between groups of 10 people, Blangiardi said.

Honolulu currently has over 9,000 active cases of COVID-19, an all-time high.

“We feel that, that’s really the major source of communal spread, " Blangiardi said. “At the same time, we’re obviously urging everyone to be vaccinated.”

The restrictions are scheduled to last four weeks, but could be extended if hospital capacity is still limited and infection levels on Oahu remain high.

Blangiardi added that the Honolulu Police Department will be ramping up enforcement efforts to stop illegal gatherings in conjunction with today’s announcement.