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8,000 passengers land in Hawaii on 1st day of new pre-travel testing policy

Mitch Kemp, left, a worker at a Waikiki Beach rental company, sets up an umbrella for visitor Leena Kilman on Waikiki Beach, Thursday, Oct. 15, 2020, in Honolulu. Kilman, who is visiting from New Hampshire, spent two weeks in mandatory quarantine and Thursday was her first day to visit the beach. The beach rental company opened for the first time Thursday since closing in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Kilman was their first rental customer since closing. (AP Photo/Marco Garcia)
by: WRTV Staff
Posted: / Updated:

HONOLULU (AP) — About 8,000 people landed in Hawaii on the first day of a pre-travel testing program that allowed travelers to come to the islands without quarantining for two weeks if they could produce a negative coronavirus test.

The pre-travel testing program began Thursday and allows visitors who test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours of their arrival in the islands to avoid quarantine — a measure that’s been in place for all arriving passengers for most of the year.

The state-run testing program is an effort to stem the devastating downturn the pandemic has had on Hawaii’s tourism-based economy.

However, gaps in the program coupled with increasing cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. and the world have raised questions about whether Hawaii is ready to safely welcome back vacationers.

Opponents of the testing program have said a single test 72 hours before arrival — especially when coupled with the option to fly without a test and still quarantine — is not enough to keep island residents safe.

Hawaii’s economy is almost entirely built around tourism and local families who rely on the sector to survive need to return to work.

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