The document discusses Hawaii's plan to reopen to international travel on October 15th amid concerns from local officials. There are worries that pre-travel testing may only identify 80% of COVID-positive travelers and the state's contact tracing is only reaching 50% of people. Multiple mayors support a second test after arrival. Health experts and some local leaders want more testing capacity and think the plan is premature. The Lieutenant Governor believes the plan adds an extra layer of safety but nothing is perfect. Hoteliers are preparing for visitors but worry infection rates need to decrease first for tourism to fully recover.

1. GOVERNOR DAVID Y. IGE - COVID-19
REOPENING HAWAII TO INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL
DAM THE TORPEDOS, FULL SPEED AHEAD! – SHOOT THE RAPIDS!
READY OR NOT – MAXIMUMUM SPEED – HERE WE GO!
IG NORING
BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES
MINIMIZE RISK OF TRANSMISSION AND SPREAD OF COVID-19
“Managing risk is very different from managing strategy. Risk management focuses on the
negative-threats and failures rather than opportunities and successes” - Robert S. Kaplan
“The essence of risk management lies in maximizing the areas where we have some control
over the outcome while minimizing the areas where we have absolutely no control over the
outcome” - Peter L. Bernstein
Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing” - Warren Buffett
Even a correct decision is wrong when it was taken too late. - Lee Iacocca
IG NORING ADVICE & WISDOM
LT. GOVERNOR JOSH GREEN
KAUAI MAYOR DEREK KAWAKAMI – BIG ISLAND MAYOR HARRY KIM
MAUI MAYOR MICHAEL VICTORINO
HONOLULU MAYOR KIRK CALDWELL – CITYCOUNCIL
HAWAII HOTELIERS
“City Council member and some residents are calling on the governor to show the state can
handle the launch of Hawaii’s trans-pacific travel program. Many are questioning whether the
state's pre-travel testing program is even ready to welcome visitors while also controlling the
spread of COVID-19 in Hawaii. Because some may opt out of the testing and choose to
quarantine, theres concern about flights arriving with a mixture of tested and untested
passengers.”
“The airlines I think would sell a lot more seats if they could tell people you could ride on this
plane and everybody on the plane is negative for COVID including the crew and how many
more seats would they sell and how much better would that be for the state,” said Bridget
Hammerquist of Kauai.”
“Lt. Gov. Josh Green says the chances of contracting COVID-19 on any flight is very low
especially if everyone wears a mask. See Note, Below. “It should be very safe, it's not ever
going to be a hundred percent with the virus in society, but we will have the safest flights in
the world because we will have this extra layer of security and that’s a good thing,” said
Green.” While Honolulu City Councilman Ron Menor supports trans-Pacific travel, he wrote a
letter to the governor calling on him to show the state will be ready with testing, quarantine
and contact tracing.

2. “We also have to ensure that we have adequate number of contact tracers to track any new
outbreaks among travelers and the person they've come into contact,” said Menor.”
“Menor suggests implementing a follow-up test which Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami
supports. The program would require all travelers to take a test no sooner than 72 hours after
arrival on the Garden Isle to avoid the 14-day quarantine.”
NOTE, SUPPLIED: September 21, 2020 “Business-class passenger spreads coronavirus on
flight” Nature Research <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00502-w>
“Genetic evidence strongly suggests that at least one member of a married couple flying from
the United States to Hong Kong infected two flight attendants during the trip. Researchers led
by Leo Poon at the University of Hong Kong and Deborah Watson-Jones at the London
School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine studied four people on the early-March flight (E. M.
Choi et al. Emerg. Infect. Dis. https://doi.org/d9jn; 2020). Two were a husband and wife
travelling in business class. The others were crew members: one in business class and one
whose cabin assignment is unknown. The passengers had travelled in Canada and the United
States before the flight and tested positive for the new coronavirus soon after arriving in Hong
Kong. The flight attendants tested positive shortly thereafter.”
“The team found that the viral genomes of all four were identical and that their virus was a
close genetic relative of some North American SARS-CoV-2 samples — but not of the SARS-
CoV-2 prevalent in Hong Kong. This suggests that one or both of the passengers transmitted
the virus to the crew members during the flight, the authors say. The authors add that no
previous reports of in-flight spread have been supported by genetic evidence.”
HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONALS
“Testing Hawaii tourists for COVID-19 before they arrive, and tracing contacts of people with
the virus, may not be as effective as the general public might think. Pre-travel tests under a
tourism reopening program slated to begin Oct. 15 likely would identify only around 80% of
travelers who have the novel coronavirus because of the lag between when a test is
administered and when someone contracts the virus or when the virus can be detected by tests,
according to Ray Vara, president and CEO of local hospital operator Hawaii Pacific Health.”
“That means around 20% of any visitors with COVID-19 could arrive in Hawaii without the
virus being detected, said Vara, citing research studies on the issue. Mark Mugiishi, president
and CEO of local health insurer Hawaii Medical Service Association, agreed with Vara's
assessment.”
“Under the state's plan, visitors who obtain negative COVID-19 test results from an approved
provider 72 hours before their plane takes off for Hawaii can avoid a mandatory 14-day
quarantine. Meanwhile, Hawaii contact tracers are gathering meaningful information from
under 50% of the people they attempt to reach in connection with confirmed COVID-19 cases,
Mugiishi said.”

3. “Vara and Mugiishi raised the two issues Monday during a meeting of the state House Select
Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness, of which they are
members.”
LIEUTENANT GOVERNOR JOSH GREEN
“An estimated 5,000 to 8,000 travelers per day are expected to arrive in the state during the
early stages of the program. Green later went on to explain that while one in 200 people in the
country's general population are estimated to be COVID-positive, this program is designed to
vastly reduce the odds of those positive individuals from arriving in Hawaii.”
“If you add a test, you chop that number down; you chop it way down because you now know
up to/within 72 hours of their departure, they were negative for COVID,” said Green. “I'm
hopeful that less than one in 1,000 people will somehow be asymptomatic and still positive for
COVID. If we have 8,000 travelers like we expect, that will be eight individuals.”
“Hawaii is now better equipped to handle this potential increase, according to Green, due to an
improved contact tracing program and increased testing capabilities. The balance lies in being
able to restart the economy to help those struggling while preventing another surge. Even with
a negative test, travelers will still be required to abide by the same social distancing and mask-
wearing policies as Hawaii residents.”
“Things are very difficult on families, especially working families,” said Green. “This
program adds an extra layer of security; that's the most important thing I can convey to you.
Will it be perfect? No. But it will greatly decrease the numbers of cases.”
“Demand for travel is expected to be significant; Green projected hotel room bookings to
approach 50% of last year's total by February, with the neighbor islands increasing quicker
than Oahu. Hotels on the Big Island, for example, are expected to be above 54% of last year's
booking total in December.”
“We expect people to come,” said Green. “We're starting to see (hotel room bookings) tick up,
and I'm told there's already very large demand for Oct. 15.”
“To bolster the program, Green is also pushing for a live beta test in the five days prior to its
start, as well as strategic surveillance after its implementation. The strategic surveillance
would offer approximately 10% of travelers who have already gone through the program a
second test four days after arrival.”
“By doing strategic surveillance and checking 10% of the visitors with a second test, we can
see: have we missed the mark at all?” said Green. By doing that, we reassure ourselves that
we're not seeing any kind of strange surge with travel.”
“A significant concern expressed by Green was with residents dropping their guard in
response to extra activity. With more people at hotels, restaurants and around the community,
Green asked Hawaii’s residents to continue taking the necessary actions to prevent another
surge.”
“It will create a lot of extra activity,” said Green. “We're going to have to be smart, and we're
going to have to wear our masks, and we're going to have to wash our hands and we're not
going to go to work when we're sick.”

4. KAUAI
“Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami wants all visitors to take a COVID-19 test after arriving on
the Garden Island.” Mayor Kawakami sent a proposal for a post-arrival test program to
Governor David Ige that would require visitors to test no sooner than 72-hours after arrival.
This means all travelers arriving on the Garden Isle would be required to quarantine for a
minimum of three days before they can take a test. A negative test result would then allow the
traveler to end the 14-day quarantine early, if Governor Ige grants his permission. The state's
pre-travel testing program is scheduled to start on October 15 which would require a negative
result 72-hours before boarding a plane. Mayor Kawakami cites Kaua'i's limited medical
capacity as the primary reason for seeking stricter regulations.”
ISLAND OF HAWAII
With just two weeks remaining to get it all together, Hawaii's pretest trans-Pacific travel plan
is not ready for prime time, Mayor Harry Kim said Tuesday, a sentiment echoed by two recent
travelers to the Big Island.
MAUI
“Maui County Mayor Michael Victorino would “prefer” trans-Pacific visitors take a second
COVID-19 test upon arrival even after testing negative for the virus prior to making the trip to
Maui County.”
“Many of us mayors would prefer a second test, especially for trans-Pacific arrivals,”
Victorino said in response to a media question during his news conference Wednesday
afternoon.”
“Things have not been finalized yet with the state's pre-travel testing program for trans-Pacific
visitors, he said. The program, scheduled to begin Oct. 15, will allow trans-Pacific visitors to
bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine with a negative test within 72-hours prior to arriving
in Hawaii.”
“Victorino said trans-Pacific visitors could stay at hotels and resorts and get a second test with
results in 24-hours if possible. Experts have said that two tests done in a six-day window will
show “more than likely if you have it,” he said.”
HONOLULU
“Two weeks before Hawaii plans to reopen to tourists, the Honolulu City Council member
who represents Waikiki has come out in opposition to Gov. David Ige's reopening plan, saying
more than 40% of travelers carrying COVID-19 – some 25 per day — will slip through the
cracks.”
“Councilman Tommy Waters' resolution, which he sent out in a press release Friday, calls for
travelers to Hawaii, including tourists and returning residents, to take at least two COVID-19
tests and be subject to “a mandatory medically appropriate quarantine period.”

5. “Gov. David Ige's current plan would require one test no more than 72 hours before departure.
Honolulu City Councilman Tommy Waters opposes Gov. David Ige's plan to reopen to
tourists. He represents the state’s iconic Waikiki tourist district.”
“Just using common sense, two tests are better than one,” Waters said in an interview. “Why
not do a second test if we can?”
“Waters joins Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami and Maui Mayor Michael Victorino who also
have called for a two-test regimen.”
“But Honolulu's Mayor Kirk Caldwell says he doesn’t think a two-test process is feasible
before Oct. 15, when the state plans to launch the pre-travel test program
”On Friday, Caldwell said he prefers two tests, one test 72 hours before departure and a
second test four days later.That's what I would like,” Caldwell said. But he added, “What I
like and what I can have are two different things.”
THE NEW POLITICAL RHETORIC
SMOKE AND MIRRORS – WHOOP WHOOP
There is more push for travelers to get tested within days of arriving in Hawaii, on top of
getting tested before flying to the state.
But state officials say that there are not enough tests in Hawaii to do that. However, there's a
company that is setting up operations in Hawaii trying to fix that problem.
City Councilman Tommy Waters introduced a resolution that is asking the state to postpone
the reopening of tourism until travelers can get tested before departure and four days after
arrival.
“The lieutenant governor says that it is just not practical. “First of all, most places aren't
requiring a test. Even this is added protection. So to add a whole other layer of
protection will essentially mean no one would come here,” said Lt. Gov. Josh Green. He
adds that the biggest obstacle is that the state can only do up to 4,000 tests a day, and
that Hawaii could easily have 8,000 passengers arrive daily.” [Emphasis Supplied]
“A Texas company called Advanced Diagnostic Laboratory partnered with a company in
Hawaii called All American Refinery. They are setting up operations to do up to 1,000 mail-in
tests daily by next week. The plan is to set up collection sites throughout Oahu and the
neighbor islands and even deliver the test kits. “We’ll deliver the test to them. We'll have the
person who delivers it supervise and monitor taking the test at home, and then they will collect
there and we send it off FedEx overnight to the Texas facility,” said Alvin Paguio, of All
American Refinery. The PCR tests are done with swabs to the rim of the nose while observed
by a company representative. Paguio says that the tests are 99.9% accurate and will cost $105.
For inter-island travelers, most can get results overnight.”
“Kauai, there might be some challenges on possibly an extra day. But we're looking at 48
hours to get the results back for the people flying to the neighbor islands,” said Paguio.

6. “The company is trying to set up a lab in Hawaii that will be able to do 5,000 to 8,000 tests a
day. It is working with the state to ramp up testing capacity and adds that the tests are also
valid for international travel, which will help if and when a travel bubble is established.”
“This comes as Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell raises concern about more surges with the
reopening of tourism and some schools going to in-person learning. “I think we're going to see
an increase in cases. I'm hoping we can stay below 100 cases per week and a positivity case
per week under 5% so we can move to tier two,” said Caldwell.”
HAWAII HOTELIERS
“Many hotel properties that had developed renovation or other property improvement plans
prior to the Covid-19 shutdown took advantage of the pandemic slowdown to get the work
done faster and with as little disruption as possible. The Kaanapali Beach Hotel and the Hyatt
Regency Maui, the Ala Moana Hotel and the Hyatt Regency Maui are among the properties
that will be unveiling major changes as they welcome back guests.”
“The pandemic has been challenging, but at the same time it's brought not just the hotels but
the entire tourism industry closer as we share a common goal," said Glen Erickson, general
manager of the Ala Moana, which is finishing up a $16 million renovation of its public spaces.
“It sounds a bit made up, but it's been true at this really difficult time. We're really excited to
see tourism return to Hawaii.”
“As important as it is to facilitate tourists' arrival, Surfjack's Eastman noted that it is nearly as
essential for Hawaii, specifically Oahu, to get a handle on its own infection rate so it can
reopen businesses and attractions and provide a complete experience for tourists. After a spike
in coronavirus cases in August, a new stay-at-home order was issued for Oahu that severely
limited activities.”
“This recent order closed all dine-in restaurants, small business retail, business swimming
pools, live music,” Eastman said. “This is critical to our recovery of tourism and personally
for the Surfjack Hotel and Swim Club that focuses on local lifestyle, which connects our
global in-house guests with the local community.”
“The stay-at-home order expired Sept. 24, and the new regulations stipulate groups of five or
fewer people will be allowed at parks, beaches and trails. Restaurants and retail can reopen at
50% capacity, but only those from the same family or household can dine together.”
“Indoor malls as well as hair salons and pools are reopening with social distancing restrictions
in place. Popular tourist attractions such as zoos, aquariums, museums and botanical gardens
are also limited to 50% capacity and groups no larger than five. Under the current regulations,
bars and nightclubs will remain closed but could reopen as Oahu enters new phases dictated
by the coronavirus infection rate.”
“The Surfjack is working to restore its live music and DJ dance nights while following the
county's rules for social distancing and safety. The boutique hotel also has plans to run surf
yoga, aqua Zumba, talk story nights, film screenings and other events as local regulations
allow.”

7. “It's going to be a transition and it's going to take time,” Eastman* said. “I'm excited that I
have business in place, and now my challenge is how do I diversify? Sales and marketing
teams are going to have to find markets to go after. But I look forward to that challenge.”
• General Manager Lynette Eastman of the Surfjack Hotel and Swim Club in Waikiki.
__________________________________________________________________
What are all the thoughts rattling in your mind
when you're not listening to the answers to questions you ask?
Peter Sinn Nachtrieb
You got one guy going boom, one guy going whack,
and one guy not getting in the endzone.
John Madden
Tell people - and they may forget...
show them - they may remember...
but involve them and they will understand.
Confucius

8. REFERENCES
“Extra layer of security: Lt. Gov. Josh Green details pre-travel testing program” By Tom Linder,
West Hawaii Today, October 2, 2020 <https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2020/10/02/hawaii-news/extra-layer-of-security-
lt-gov-josh-green-details-pre-travel-testing-program/>
“Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami wants all visitors to take a COVID-19 test after arriving on the
Garden Island” By KITV Web Staff, September 30, 2020 <https://www.kitv.com/story/42702231/mayor-
kawakami-wants-all-visitors-to-take-a-covid19-test-after-arriving-on-kauai>
“Trans-Pacific travel: Ready for prime time? Kim says no” By Nancy Cook Lauer West Hawaii
Today, September 30, 2020 <https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2020/09/30/hawaii-news/trans-pacific-travel-ready-for-prime-
time-kim-says-no/>
“Councilman calls on the governor to prove Hawaii is ready to welcome back visitors”
By Jolanie Martinez, Hawaii News Now, September 29, 2020 - Updated September 30, 2020
<https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/09/30/councilman-calls-governor-prove-hawaii-is-ready-welcome-back-visitors/>
“In Hawaii, questions remain as hoteliers prepare to welcome back guests” By Tovin Lapan,
Travel Weekly, September 28, 2020 <https://www.travelweekly.com/Hawaii-Travel/Insights/Questions-remain-as-
hoteliers-prepare-to-welcome-back-guests>
“Gaps cited in Hawaii's pre-travel COVID-19 tests, contact tracing” By Andrew Gomes,
Honolulu Star Advertiser, September 29, 2020 <https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/09/29/hawaii-news/gaps-cited-
in-state-pre-travel-covid-19-tests-contact-tracing/>
“Testing options about to increase as more officials push for second tests for travelers” By
Manolo Morales, KHON2 News, October 2, 2020 <https://www.khon2.com/coronavirus/testing-options-about-to-
increase-as-more-officials-push-for-second-tests-for-travelers/>