Hawai‘i COVID-19 News Update – April 30, 2021
Aloha,
Here’s the latest COVID-19 news and issues facing Hawai'i that you need to know this week.
Hawai‘i's hospitality industry gains momentum, welcoming the highest number of visitors to the state since the pandemic began.
- Industry experts project flight and accommodation prices will soon increase as the tourism industry recovers.
- "Now that demand is growing and business is beginning to normalize, lodging properties will be looking to not only generate revenue and bring people back to work, but also to address the various needs of their respective properties," explained HLTA CEO and President Mufi Hannemann.
- Maui Mayor Victorino announced that Maui would require post-arrival COVID tests for trans-Pacific passengers beginning May 4. Anyone traveling from the mainland will have to take the test unless they can prove they’re fully vaccinated.
State House and Senate legislators approved a bill that would cut Hawai‘i Tourism Authority funding by $19 million.
- Pacific Business News reported Hawai‘i lawmakers approved a bill that would cut HTA’s budget and make future funding uncertain, and eliminate the $103 million county share of the transient accommodations tax. In return, counties can raise their own TAT up to 3% for up to a 10-year period. The bill will now go to Gov. David Ige, who has until June 21 to decide which bills he will veto.
- In a Honolulu Star-Advertiser insights piece, Keith M. Vieira, principal at KV & Associates, Hospitality Consulting, said the bill would damage tourism. He says the bills – HB 862 and HB 200 – “if passed in their current form, would cripple HTA’s ability to sustainably manage tourism and compromise the branding of our visitor industry at a time when Hawai‘i tourism is expected to take years to rebound.”
- In an editorial piece for the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, Julie Morikawa, president of ClimbHi, argued cuts to the Hawai‘i Tourism Authority’s (HTA) budget would impact keiki for generations. Students who participated in the Leadership, Exploration, Inspiration (LEI) hospitality industry program, which HTA sponsors, shared the value of the direct and indirect positive benefits tourism brings to our state.
The CDC updated its guidelines on mask wearing after vaccination, but Hawai‘i’s mask mandate remains unchanged.
- Gov. David Ige said Hawaiʻi’s mask mandate wouldn't be changing anytime soon despite the CDC's announcement that fully vaccinated Americans do not need to cover their faces outdoors, even within 6 feet of others not from the same household.
- County Mayors said health and safety is the top priority, and that while they are open to changes, they will follow the State’s lead on the mask mandate.
- The Transportation Security Administration has extended a requirement that passengers on planes, trains and buses wear face masks. The rule was set to expire May 11 but will now run through Sept. 13.
- Hawai‘i reported 118 new COVID infections today; no additional fatalities.
The effort to vaccinate at least one million Hawai‘i residents increases, focusing on younger and vulnerable populations.
- According to the Star-Advertiser, the state is focusing its efforts on vaccinating younger residents as 70% of all new COVID-19 cases in Hawaiʻi are now made up of residents under age 50.
- The Hawaiʻi State Department of Health has launched a full-scale outreach effort to ensure access to the COVID-19 vaccination for every resident. The collaborative effort, which includes door-to-door outreach, has focused on vulnerable populations, especially those who speak English as their second language.
- According to state health officials, clinics can open up to walk-in opportunities since the demand for the vaccine is down, especially for neighbor islands that opened up availability to all eligible residents earlier than Oʻahu.
Hawaiʻi’s unemployment rate dropped to 9% in March, but business owners say they have difficulty filling job openings.
- According to a March survey by the National Federation for Independent Business, 42% of business owners reported job openings they couldn’t fill — a record high and 20 percentage points higher than the 48-year historical average of 22%.
- Hawaiʻi restaurants are having difficulty finding employees to fill job positions, despite 58,750 residents being unemployed.
- The Hawaiʻi Restaurant Associations (HRA) says the shortage of applicants is happening across the islands and blames the State waving requirements for individuals getting unemployment benefits to search for a job.
- "The intent of the President was very magnanimous, but by creating that and not requiring people on unemployment to even look for a job for them to continue to get payment, that really takes the equation out," said Victor Lim of the HRA.
- Hawai‘i News Now reported that live event organizers are demanding the state develop a clear plan to bring back concerts and other large gatherings. Promoters say there will be a huge trickle-down effect and that “Hawai‘i will lose valuable personnel, specialized skill sets, and essential equipment, which would put the entire industry at peril.”