Governor David Ige and Kauai Island (Getty; Unsplash)

David Ige has approved Kaua‘i Mayor Derek Kawakami’s request to rejoin the Safe Travels pre-travel testing program for Trans-Pacific travel, effective April 5, 2021. Existing rules for travel to Kaua‘i remain in place until that date.

“This emergency rule will simplify travel to Hawai‘i by including Kaua‘i in the existing Safe Travels program. The increased restrictions over the winter months helped Mayor Kawakami safely balance travel with the health and safety of residents and visitors on the Garden Island,” said David Ige.

“I thank Governor Ige for recognizing Kauai’s unique rural community with limited resources, and allowing us to institute stricter testing and quarantine rules over the winter months as cases spiked on the mainland,” said Mayor Kawakami. “Since that time, Kaua‘i has built a robust vaccine distribution program. By April, we will have offered vaccines to our hospitality industry and restaurant employees, and our healthcare workers, first responders and kupuna will have been fully vaccinated.”

Ige and Mayor Kawakami urge residents to install the Aloha Safe app, which will notify users if they come into contact with someone who later tests positive for COVID-19.

All incoming travelers to the state must be able to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 pre-arrival test from a trusted partner.

For more information on the State of Hawai‘i’s Safe Travels program, please visit www.hawaiicovid19.com/travel.

To download Aloha Safe, please visit alohasafealert.org.

For more information on travel to Kaua‘i before or after April 5, please visit www.kauai.gov/COVID-19.