Can US citizens travel to Hawaii: conditions and quarantine

In the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States when into lockdown, only allowing essential businesses to operate in a bid to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus. One of the measures brought in by President Donald Trump was a travel ban outside the country.

While travel to Hawaii was not banned, a 14-day quarantine was put in place for visitors arriving after 26 March, meaning most holiday travel to the islands stopped. The quarantine requirement has been extended several times but is currently scheduled to expire on 31 July.

Visitors arriving in Hawaii from out of state are required to sign a declaration at the airport acknowledging that they are aware of the quarantine order and agreeing to abide by it. This applies to all individuals, both residents and visitors, arriving from out-of-state to Hawaii - everyone must comply with the mandatory 14-day-self-quarantine.

The Department of Health is directing travelers to a new website, where you can download the form, which should be filled out and filed no more than 24 hours in advance. All of the details about new procedures related to interisland travel can be found at: http://health.hawaii.gov/travel/.

Note that travelers may be prohibited from boarding a flight if they have a temperature above 100.4 degrees.

People are also required to tell authorities where they will be staying, and to go there directly from the airport, not leaving their island accommodations for 14 days.

Violators are subject to fines, as mentioned above of up to $5,000, and possible jail time of up to one year.

If you are considering traveling to Hawai thinking it is a good idea to break the quarantine rules, it is worth searching the internet for “Hawaii quarantine arrests” where you will see first hand just how seriously the state is taking the coronavirus threat.

Hawaii self-quarantine rules

The rules for self-quarantine are fairly simply. The main one is to stay in your home or your visitor lodging to prevent spreading Covid-19 to anyone else.

This means you cannot use shared facilities, such as pools, spas, gyms, bars or restaurants. You cannot rent a car or use car-sharing services.

To get food you need to order room service, or have someone drop food off at your door.

You cannot go to the beach or any other public place.

You are not allowed to have visitors.

Four exceptions to the general rule that all travelers must self-quarantine:

- Individuals arriving in the State on recreational boats that have been at sea for at least 14 days do not have to self-quarantine if nobody on the boat is ill or experiencing Covid-19 symptoms;

- Individuals traveling to the State or inter-island to perform critical infrastructure functions as described in the proclamation will be subject to self-quarantine but may break quarantine to perform their critical functions;

- Individuals traveling inter-island for medical care do not have to self-quarantine as long as they wear appropriate protective gear and practice social distancing; and

- Hawaii residents who have left the State to perform critical infrastructure work do not need to self-quarantine upon returning but must wear appropriate protective gear and practice social distancing.