Hawaii Tourism: A travel bargain after COVID19 spreads on 3 islands

Hawaii Governor Ige Coronavirus warning: Avoid travel to Washington State
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There was never a more economical time to visit the Aloha State of Hawaii. Round trip airfares from the US West Coast sell well below $200.00.  Resort rates are the lowest seen for a long time. However, it appears traveling to Hawaii may not be without risk, and many don’t want visitors to arrive during coronavirus.

The State of Hawaii seems to be ill-equipped to effectively prevent the spread of Coronavirus.
Saturday night officials in Maui transported a female visitor to an isolated part of the island to recover from COVID-19

Earlier today Governor Ige told Hawaii media about two cases of visitors on the Island of Kauai. They stayed at the Kauai Marriott Hotel and were moved to an isolated location on the Garden Isle to recover

Altogether there are 6 active Coronavirus cases in the State of Hawaii. Disturbing is that at least 3 went to an Urgent Care facility to get help and were unable to get a test for COVID-19

In Maui, a CORONAVIRUS positive person was given a flue test by an urgent care doctor. The test came back negative and the Urgent Care physician did not offer to do a Coronavirus test and didn’t even recognize the possibility, even after the patient said he may have had contact with a positive person in Indiana. The doctor collected his fee and send the person back to his hotel.

The next day the sick visitor boarded a flight on Hawaiian Airlines from Maui to Kauai and most likely exposed more people to the dangerous virus.

State officials are now working to retrace the footsteps of a man and woman who visited Maui and Kauai before testing positive for the coronavirus.

The tourist arrived in Maui from the U.S. mainland on a nonstop United Airlines flight to Kahului, Maui.

It appears medical professionals in Hawaii are not trained on how to deal with the threat of Coronavirus, there are not enough tests available.

Governor Ige proudly said 65 people were tested in the State and all came back negative. This is nothing to be proud off, it’s something the state should be embarrassed for.

Testing results in the United States take 1-2 days. In Germany for example, results are known within 4 hours.

The virus is so dangerous, at it lives in cold winter weather 2-3 weeks.
In air-conditioned rooms, the virus survives 24 hours, outdoors at normal warm temperature 7 hours or at a hot summer day 2 hours

Hawaii received thousands of visitors every day and could be a magnet for Coronavirus.  The State would not be able to handle a spread. The remote  State is not ready and won’t be able to deal with an epidemic.

It can be hoped President Trump may prevent domestic travel and may protect the fragile destination of Hawaii, one known and respected local tourism experts told eTurboNews.

One month without tourism is a huge loss, but it may secure a future for the largest industry in the State.

On Oahu, another person was also tested positive. “The person was under investigation for the coronavirus and test results came back positive tonight”, a spokesman for Mayor Kirk Caldwell said.

In the meantime, Hawaii is hungry for visitors. No one talks about over-tourism these days anymore.

Hawaii Governor Ige pledges transparency, but eTurboNews reached out to the Hawaii Department of Health many times since COVID19 broke out. The Department refuses to answer any questions.

About the author

Avatar of Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen T Steinmetz

Juergen Thomas Steinmetz has continuously worked in the travel and tourism industry since he was a teenager in Germany (1977).
He founded eTurboNews in 1999 as the first online newsletter for the global travel tourism industry.

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