Column: House Speaker Scott Saiki’s bill on state’s travel policy unsafe for Kauai, Hawaii
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Under Mayor Derek Kawakami’s independent travel policies, Kauai has the lowest COVID incidence in Hawaii.
Nonetheless, Hawaii’s speaker of the House, Scott Saiki, claiming that Kauai’s different travel rules confuse travelers to Hawaii, has proposed House Bill 1286 to force all counties to conform to the state’s one-test “Safe” Travels plan.
The state’s one-test plan has shown itself to be clearly unsafe. After its start on Kauai on Oct. 15, careful data tracking showed a doubling of COVID cases in one month. In the first seven months of the pandemic, Kauai had 60 infections. After one month of the state’s unsafe travel plan, Kauai’s total caseload spiked to 120. Of those post-reopening cases, 80% were incoming travelers. The state’s unsafe plan was unquestionably the cause.
Kauai wisely opted out. Maui didn’t — and went from 1% of the state’s total