Bill 41 was hotly contested by many people and there were numerous public hearings and readings of the bill prior to the Mayor signing it into law. In June, HILSTRA (Hawaii Legal Short-Term Rental Alliance) filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent the City from enforcing the new law.

U.S. District Judge Derrick Watson, on October 14 issued a ruling preventing the City & County “from enforcing or implementing Ordinance 22-7, signed into law on April 26, 2022, insofar as it prohibits 30-89-day home rentals, or the advertisement of such rentals, in any district on Oahu, pending further order from this Court.” 

This ruling from Judge Watson is a preliminary injunction that prevents the City from enforcing the ordinance until such time as the courts can determine the constitutionality of the bill. HILSTRA, in their lawsuit, alleged the bill is unconstitutional as it interferes with homeowner’s vested rights to own and rent property and that it also violates state laws. 

Mayor Blangiardi said he was disappointed in the ruling but that the City will honor the court’s decision. The Mayor went on to state, “We are currently evaluating the impact of the decision and will have more details to offer soon about what we will be doing to protect our residential neighborhoods.”

The Mayor has scheduled a press conference for Thursday afternoon (October 20) presumably to discuss the City’s plans for the Bill. Will the City backoff and settle? Will they continue to fight for the bill by appealing Judge Watson’s decision by taking it to a higher court, or is there another undisclosed and less obvious path they might take? 

Check back here in a few days for an update.

Mayor Blangiardi signing Bill 41 into law

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Hawaii also revised their quarantine requirements for travelers who are unvaccinated and do not test Negative for COVID. The mandatory quarantine period was reduced from ten days to five days. This pretty much follows suit what the CDC did a few days earlier.  Visitors who are fully vaccinated or have tested negative for COVID do not have to quarantine or isolate upon arrival.

Although the State has relaxed entry requirements, some of the individual islands are implementing certain stricter measures. On January 5^th, Oahu’s Mayor reduced the number of people allowed at indoor events, down to ten people. On Maui, proof of full vaccination or a recent negative COVID test is required to get into restaurants and bars. The difference from this latest rule vs prior ones, is that fully vaccinated means a person must also have had their Booster shot. I anticipate that a similar rule will be initiated on Oahu before long.

As always, for the latest and most accurate information regarding travel to Hawaii and their Safe Travels program check out their website. Additional information is available at:

https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/faqs/

This link will take you the State’s FAQ page for the Safe Travels Hawaii website.

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Last week, the Federal Government announced that it will loosen restrictions on international travel effective November 8. The State of Hawaii has said it will follow the same guidelines as the federal government for international passengers who are traveling direct to Hawaii.

Beginning on November 8, non-US citizens traveling directly to Hawaii from an international destination must present BOTH vaccination records showing they are FULLY vaccinated AND a negative COVID-19 test result (NAAT or antigen) within three days of boarding a flight to the United States. US Citizens flying directly into Hawaii from an international destination have two options.

1. 1. Those travelers who are fully vaccinated must provide proof of vaccination and present a test taken within three (3) days of boarding flight to Hawaii.

   2. Any travelers who are not fully vaccinated must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result within one (1) day of boarding their flight to Hawaii.

Hawaii’s Safe Travel program remains in effect for domestic travelers coming into Hawaii from other states. Currently, the Safe Travels Program requirements for domestic travelers include:

• • Creating a Safe Travels Hawaii account on a digital device

  • Entering their trip details into the App or website

  • Completing out a health form and finally,

  • Attesting that all information in the form and / or App is correct.

Any international travelers who may be entering Hawaii from another US state or territory will be treated as domestic travelers and will need to adhere to the rules and guidelines of the Safe Travels Program.

As always, we recommend you visit and consult the State of Hawaii Safe Travels website for any questions you may have and to obtain any forms you may need to complete. You’ll find a link below to the Safe Travels website.

https://travel.hawaii.gov/#/

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At a press conference on August 23, Governor David Ige asked visitors to stay away from Hawaii until the end of October. This press conference, combined with articles in the local press seems to have confused many people. Since that news conference many people have canceled their travel plans to the State. Ige acknowledged that “most” new cases of the virus are the result of residents traveling off-island and coming back home to spread COVID-19 in the community.  He then went on to say, “I’m asking all residents and visitors alike to restrict travel, curtail travel, to Hawaii to essential activities only”.

In a follow-up press conference, on Monday September 13, the Governor announced that there are no plans for another full-scale shutdown in Hawaii, despite an ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases in the islands. Governor Ige stated that if he does enact additional restrictions, they will likely be in the form of curfews or further restrictions on the size of social gatherings.

At this time, hospitalizations of COVID-19 patients have remained stable and there are signs that the rapid rise in cases of the virus is abating. The seven-day average of new cases had dropped 37% from where they were two weeks prior, according to the state’s data and the number of tests coming back positive declined to 6.9% in the same time period.

As of September 13, There were 165,680 eligible Hawaii residents out of a total population of 1.42 million who had not initiated the vaccination process, according to state data. Children under age 12 still aren’t eligible for the vaccine. There are 76.6% of the eligible population in Hawaii now fully vaccinated, while 86.4% of the eligible population has received at least one shot. By comparison, 63% of the eligible U.S. population is fully vaccinated, while 74% has received at least one shot, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ige’s comments reflect a significant shift in public policy relating to the coronavirus. While prior to the vaccine, the focus was on controlling cases, now the emphasis is on ensuring adequate health care resources. In addition to the widespread availability of free vaccines, Ige noted that the treatment for COVID-19 has improved. While the state has ample hospital beds, staffing has been a major constraint, prompting the state to bring in an extra 600 nurses and other health care professionals to assist with COVID- 19 patients.

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Effective February 25, the County of Honolulu (Oahu) moved to Tier 3 of their COVID-19 Reopening Plan. This is one step closer to the most relaxed step, Tier 4.  Tier 3, as you can guess allows more activities and operations. A breakdown of some of the changes in Tier 3 are: 

• People will now be able to go to a restaurant in groups of up to 10 people, regardless of household. In Tier 2, this was a maximum of 5 people. Restaurants can now operate at 100% capacity rather than 50%.
• Similar to restaurants, Retail and Service business groupings can have groups of up to 10 people and the capacity limit of 50% is no longer in effect.
• Social gatherings can now have up to 10 people.
• Real Estate activities such as Open Houses, showing, inspections and appraisals can now allow up to 10 people.
• Gyms & fitness facilities will can operate at 50% capacity. This is up from the current 25% capacity.
• Commercial recreational boating (fishing tours, dive tours, etc) will be able to operate at 50% capacity
• Helicopter tours can have up to 10 people and the capacity limit of 50% will be removed.

One thing that I thought was to be included in Tier 3 but is not, is the reopening of bars and nightclubs.  It seems this does not happen until Tier 4.

Rick Blangiardi, the new Mayor of Honolulu pointed out that advancing to Tier 3 “does not mean we can let our guard down”. The wearing of masks in public, social distancing and staying home when feeling sick are all still very important. Should the number of new cases and the positivity rate increase, we could potentially move back down to Tier 2.

Below is an Infographic from the County detailing Tier 3

LIVE Tier 3 Honolulu Reopening Strategy – For more info go to oneoahu.org by Honolulu DEM

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It’s been a little over two weeks since Hawaii implemented their COVID-19 Pre-travel testing program. It started out a bit rocky with many people having to quarantine after arriving in Hawaii, due to delayed test results. I spoke with one traveler who waited a full ten days to get his test results. He then had to wait two more days after uploading the results to Hawaii’s website to get his official Quarantine Release.

With all this in mind, below are a few tips I found in the Honolulu Star Advertiser that may help speed you through the process.

Tips for Hawaii Travelers who Want to Expedite Exemptions from Quarantine:

• Have your test in hand when you arrive in Hawaii, even if you upload it here.
• Uploading your test after arriving in Hawaii can result in several days’ wait in quarantine until your test is reviewed.
• Only upload tests from Hawaii’s trusted testing partners; all other tests will be rejected.
• See hawaiicovid19.com/travel/getting-to-hawaii for a list of the state’s testing partners.
• Make sure your first and last names, test date, test result and name of trusted testing partner are on the test.
• Make sure the first and last names on the test result match the first and last names in the Safe Travels digital form.
• Upload a good-quality Adobe PDF file with only the first page of your test result in 8-1/2-by-11-inch format.
• Don’t upload screen shots of your phone, mobile device or computer, or photos of your test; they will fail.
• Tests are verified by labs; submitting a falsified test is a crime and will be prosecuted.

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The Lagoons, Beaches and Parking Lots at Ko Olina are now Open to the Public.

Ko Olina closed their lagoons to the Public (and resort residents) fairly early in the COVID-19 pandemic for safety reasons. The lagoons were opened once or twice during the past few months, but the parking lots remained closed. If you wanted to swim in the lagoons at this time, you had to either walk to the lagoons, or have someone drop you off.  There were periods when you could swim in the lagoons but were not allowed to sit on the beaches. Other times the lagoon walkways & comfort stations were closed and those who wanted to walk in the resort had to walk along the streets and sidewalks rather than the lagoons.

Like with a lot of rules and restrictions during the COVID-19 pandemic this became quite confusing to most everyone involved.  All this was done in the interest of safety. Trying to keep the public, resort residents and resort employees safe.

The closing of the lagoons and beaches, perhaps along with the confusion upset quite a few people. Residents of the resort complained, as did neighbors of the resort. There were editorials written in the local papers and comments left on news sites and of course on social media. Eventually, the City & County of Honolulu told resort management they had to open the beaches and parking lots. After what seemed like several days of discussions between the city and the resort, the beaches. and lagoons were opened to the public on October 16.

As of this writing, social distancing must still be practiced while at the lagoons and on the beach. Groups at the lagoons are limited to a maximum of five people and masks must be worn when people are not in the water.  Some of those restrictions will be relaxed if the County moves into Tier 2 of their reopening plan. Although the lagoons, beaches and parking lots have been opened, parking at lagoons 1 & 4 is at only 50% at this time with every other parking space blocked off.

Social Distancing for Cars?

Maybe Cars Can Transmit the Virus?

The lagoons, beaches and parking lots are open again.  Yes, there are restrictions and parking is more limited than usual but I believe most people are happy about all that. Even on a recent cloudy day the beaches were busy with families enjoying themselves.  Remember, COVID-19 Virus is still a danger and Ko Olina Management is trying to keep people safe.

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