Hawaiʻi County will suspend all county-sponsored COVID-19 testing operations beginning Saturday, March 26.
The decision comes as on-island case counts and hospitalizations related to COVID have drastically decreased, significantly reducing community need for largescale testing sites. Additionally, the suspension will supplement the sunsetting of Governor Ige’s Emergency Proclamation related to COVID-19, which will end Friday, March 25, at 11:59 pm. However, some private vendors may maintain COVID-19 testing operations islandwide, and the County of Hawaiʻi Civil Defense Administration will maintain its database on alternative testing locations, which may be found at hawaiicounty.gov/testing.
County-sponsored testing began on March 23, 2020, and contributed to the administration of 90,310 PCR tests islandwide throughout the two-year period.
“We have been at the forefront of testing operations since the onset of the pandemic, and this weekend we will hand that responsibility over to our on-island care providers who continue to step up and play a significant role in the slowing of the spread on our island,” said Mayor Mitch Roth. “As we begin to learn to live with the virus, we have all the trust and faith in our healthcare community to adequately handle testing operations as part of their ongoing response to COVID. It’s time for us to move on from response to revitalization, and we thank our community partners for their willingness to do their part in that effort.”
