Hawaii locals asking tourists to stop visiting the islands during the pandemic

Friday, August 27, 2021

Many Hawaii locals are asking tourists to stop visiting the islands during the pandemic, and the governor is now urging the same.

Gov. David Ige said,“It is a risky time to be traveling right now. We know that the visitors who choose to come to the islands will not have the typical kind of holiday that they expect to get when they visit Hawaii.”

The delta variant is surging in Hawaii, with the state having more confirmed cases than anytime during the pandemic. Averaging more than 700 cases a day, according to Johns Hopkins University & Medicine, around 72% of the state’s hospital beds are full.

Despite the growing number of cases across the US, especially in areas with low vaccination rates, tourism is almost up to the pre-pandemic levels. In June 2019, there were 277,930 daily visitors on average, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority. In June 2021, that figure wasaround 255,936.

Only around 62% of Hawaii residents are fully vaccinated, according to Johns Hopkins, thereby presenting a growing risk for the unvaccinated people as tourism gets back on track.

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