Hawaii implements a pre-travel testing program that will allow tourists to present a negative COVID-19 test and avoid the 14-day quarantine.
As part of an agreement with the state, the approved testing partners for this program are CVS and Kaiser Permanente, according to a press release by the governor's office.
The pre-travel testing program will serve as a way to encourage greater tourism in Hawaii while still keeping residents safe. More than 10 million tourists visit the islands annually as tourism is the largest business in Hawaii, producing a substantial portion of its tax revenue. However, since the start of the pandemic, tourism in Hawaii has seen a 90-percent downfall, leaving thousands unemployed and hundreds of hotels to close.
"The more we delay, the more dire the situation becomes for our small business and local business community," said Sherry Menor-McNamara, CEO of the Chamber of Commerce Hawaii, in a letter to Ige. "This is viewed as one of the key measures for revitalizing Hawai'i's visitor-centric economy, while providing protection for the spread of COVID-19," Ige said in a press release.
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