Daily News Digest

Governor’s Office: Hawai‘i Expands Pre-Travel Testing Program to Japan Gov. David Ige made the announcement at a news briefing this afternoon that Japan is being added to Hawai‘i’s pre-travel testing program. Starting Friday, Nov. 6, 2020, travelers from Japan may bypass the State of Hawaiʻi’s mandatory 14-day quarantine if they take a COVID-19 test from a trusted testing partner in Japan. The test must be taken no earlier than 72 hours prior to departure and the test must be negative. It’s all part of the Safe Travels Hawaiʻi program that adds a layer of protection for travelers and [...]

Governor’s Office: Governor Signs Stay-At-Home Order for Lāna‘i As Lāna‘i continues to see a spike in COVID-19 cases, the island is being put under a stay-at-home order starting Tuesday to mitigate the spread of the virus. The order was signed by Gov. David Ige this morning. It goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Maui Mayor Michael Victorino said, “With the rapidly rising positive COVID-19 case count, this is an important step to limit the spread of the virus and protect the health and safety of this vulnerable community on Lāna‘i ... For now, we recommend that residents and [...]

Department of Health: Three (3) COVID-19 Deaths Reported Three (3) COVID-19 deaths were reported today by DOH. All three (3) were on O‘ahu. Two (2) deaths involved men, 80+ years old, who were hospitalized with underlying medical conditions. The third death was a woman, 80+ years old, who was also hospitalized with underlying medical conditions. 28 New Cases Reported on Lāna‘i  DOH’s Maui District Health Office (MDHO) has confirmed 28 new cases of COVID-19 in residents on the island of Lāna‘i. That brings the total to 49 confirmed cases on Lāna‘i. DOH has identified a couple of large social [...]

Governor’s Office: State, City Leaders Responding to COVID-19 Cases on Lāna‘i  In a news briefing today, Gov. David Ige addressed the recent COVID-19 cases on Lāna‘i. Gov. Ige said, “We are working with Maui County Mayor Mike Victorino, Sen. English and Rep. DeCoite to aggressively respond. Department of Health (DOH) is sending a testing team today and there will be community testing on Saturday ... We are going to continue working with everyone to identify, isolate, and treat those who are infected.” He added that Department of Human Services (DHS) and Emergency Management Agency (HI-EMA) helped to secure [...]

Governor’s Office: State Adds Partner to Trusted Testing Partners List for Inter-County Travel  The State of Hawai‘i has added Diagnostic Laboratory Services (DLS) to the list of eight other trusted testing partners for inter-county travel. Inter-county passengers arriving in Kauaʻi and Maui counties may bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine if they take an FDA-authorized Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) from the certified CLIA lab of a trusted testing and travel partner. The test must be taken no earlier than 72 hours prior to departure, and the traveler must receive a negative result to bypass the quarantine requirement. Beginning [...]

Governor’s Office: Pivot Grant Program Launching to Help Small Businesses During Pandemic  Help is on the way for thousands of small Hawai‘i businesses. At a news briefing today, Gov. David Ige announced that the State of Hawai‘i is partnering with the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii to launch the Hawai‘i Business Pivot Grant program. The program will provide approximately 2,500 small businesses and non-profits with grants up to $10,000 to reimburse them for expenses incurred while making changes to their business models since the pandemic’s arrival in March 2020. The program’s objective is to help small to mid-size businesses [...]

Governor’s Office: Government, Private-Sector Partnership Double Food Bucks to Help Hawai‘i Families, Local Agriculture The State of Hawai‘i is matching a donation of half a million dollars from a hui of private-sector organizations towards the DA BUX Double Up Food Bucks program. DA BUX doubles the value of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits spent on locally grown food at participating grocery stores. Several private-sector organizations secured $500,000 for DA BUX to increase SNAP buying power for recipients at participating grocery stores, such as KTA Super Stores and Times Supermarket. The state match increases that amount to $1 million that will be [...]

Department of Health: One (1) COVID-19 Death Reported One additional COVID-19 death was reported today by DOH. It involved a woman from O‘ahu over the age of 80, who had an underlying condition and was hospitalized at the time of her death. DOH also reported 89 new COVID-19 cases today. Hawai‘i COVID-19 Counts as of 12:00 noon, Oct. 16, 2020 Island of Diagnosis New Cases Reported since 2/28/2020 (including new cases) O‘ahu 68 12,317 Hawai‘i 21 1,026 Maui 0 392 Kaua‘i 0 59 Moloka‘i 0 19 Lānaʻi 0 0 HI residents diagnosed outside of HI 0 40 Total [...]

Governor’s Office: Safe Travels Program Officially Launches The Safe Travels Hawai‘i program has officially launched. The first trans-pacific flight arrived mid-day today. Under the Safe Travels Hawai‘i program, travelers now have the option of taking a Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) from a trusted testing partner, and if given a negative result for COVID-19, allowed to bypass the state’s 14-day mandatory quarantine. Governor David Ige and several state leaders were at the Daniel K. Inouye International Airport today to welcome passengers and check out the verification process. Speaking at a news briefing, Gov. Ige said, “Today is a big day [...]

Governor’s Office: DOH Approves Japan’s Testing Procedure for Pre-Travel Testing Program DOH has approved the COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) authorized by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. Proof of a negative test result from trusted testing partners in Japan will allow travelers from that country to bypass the 14-day quarantine upon arrival in Hawai‘i. DOH is currently in discussions with various Japanese medical institutions as it secures a list of trusted testing partners in Japan. Once the list is established, the pre-travel program will be launched for Japan. Information and updates will be posted at [...]