Hawaii has decided some of the strictest restrictions throughout the pandemic, from a mandatory 14-day quarantine for anyone entering the islands prior to the introduction of the vaccine, to the current 10-day quarantine for all unvaccinated individuals who are not tested for COVID. governor David Ige urges travelers to Delay visitAs Hawaii grapples with an accelerated surge in COVID cases and a lack of available health resources, it is clear that the state is not afraid to treat unvaccinated visitors harshly. Now Hawaii is becoming even less hospitable to tourists who haven’t received their COVID vaccinations as many large hotels in the state crack down on unvaccinated guests.
TIED TOGETHER: Unvaccinated people working in these 3 states could be laid off this week.
Highgate Hotels Hawaii announced in early September that it would need to do so at some point all guests are vaccinated against the coronavirus, Travel Weekly reported. The hospitality industry owns seven properties around Hawaii, including the popular ‘Alohilani Resort Waikiki Beach’ and the Courtyard Marriott in Waikiki.
“We will not take the COVID-19 test any more than Form of exemption, ” Kelly Sanders, the senior vice president of operations for Highgate Hawaii, said in a statement to Hawaii News Now. There are exceptions for medical or religious reasons, as well as an exception for children under the age of 12 who cannot yet be vaccinated.
The vaccination mandate comes into effect on October 15th and also requires all employees to be vaccinated. An estimated 80 percent of Highgate’s 1,000 employees are already vaccinated, according to Sanders.
“Everyone who works for Highgate in Hawaii gets vaccinated, and that begins our journey to becoming a safe place to come and stay,” said Sanders. “But we cannot require all employees to be vaccinated unless we ask guests and guests to meet the same standard that we set for our employees.”
Other Highgate hotels affected include the Aston Waikiki Beach Hotel, Park Shore Waikiki, Ambassador Waikiki Hotel, Pearl Waikiki Hotel, and the Hilton Garden Inn Waikiki Beach.
TIED TOGETHER:
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Ige told the Honolulu Star Advertiser that unlike mainland US, Hawaii’s isolation makes it difficult to find and deploy alternative health resources to patients when island hospitals are overrun with COVID patients who take over resources and space in the intensive care unit.
“We do not have the luxury of flying someone or driving to another hospital when our system is overwhelmed,” he told the news agency on September 27th. Then the whole idea of crisis standards of care and how we should provide care would be overwhelmed will be rationing, moving to the fore … We did not have to ration supplies and neither do we want to. “
Hawaii is currently experiencing about 350 to 400 new coronavirus Cases daily, according to the New York Times. While that’s a sharp drop from the 700 to 1,000 new cases the state saw in early September, Ige said there was still some way to go before the islands are safe enough for tourists. That likely includes the need for further restrictions and mandates, the governor added.
“I hope we can lift further restrictions and invite the vaccinated back to the islands because we know this is important to our economy and everyone is back to work,” said Ige.
TIED TOGETHER: If you are not vaccinated, you will soon be excluded from these goals.
