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O’AHU, Hawaii (KITV) – On Friday, special agents from the Attorney General’s Office searched 10 hotels, mostly in Waikiki, for quarantine breakers.
During the operation, which included 3,200 hotel rooms, agents worked with hotel security to identify guests who are subject to the state’s 10-day quarantine.
“It (the operation) was also to educate the tourists visiting our island here and let them know that the quarantine is important,” said Deputy Chief Special Agent Paul Jones.
The Hilton Hawaiian Village was one of the places the agents looked.
Angela Keen, the founder of the surveillance organization Hawai’i Quarantine Kapu Breakers, praised the Hilton for what she believes to be an effective protocol, such as assigning quarantined guests on the same floor to join investigators help identify potential rule violations.
“I think that’s the best way, not all hotels do that. They’re a bit of a mess with the rules, “said Keen, who argued that tracking the return of your own locals is more difficult than monitoring tourists,” because they’re not always where they say they are are. “
“They (locals) find it easier to get under the radar and it is harder for the Attorney General’s investigators to find them because they actually have to catch them breaking the quarantine,” added Keen.
Locals returning home are at greater risk for the virus to spread, as they often make immediate contact with the community and “mingle with family members, household members and others, which is a huge risk,” Keen said.
Since the pandemic began, 55 people have been arrested for abandoning quarantine.
The attorney general said it will continue enforcement efforts until the rule is lifted.
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