The Hawaii Department of Transportation (HDOT) announced Friday that it has implemented improved verification measures for incoming passengers to help ensure they abide by travel quarantine orders.
While air traffic to the Island of Hawaii is down, passengers continue to come to the state, and more strict guidelines are being put in place to ensure travelers to Hawaii adhere to the state’s quarantine orders.
Passenger arrivals to Hawaii are down nearly 100 percent from this time last year, but flights continue to come into the Island State from San Francisco, Oakland, Los Angeles, and Seattle. International flights are only coming in from Guam.
As the first state in the nation to implement a 14-day self-quarantine order for travelers, the new measures will involve a number of state agencies working together with Kenneth Hara, director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, serving as its lead.
Passengers arriving on trans-Pacific flights will complete Hawaii Department of Agriculture declaration forms, as before. After landing, they will have their temperature taken. If they have a high temperature, they will receive a medical evaluation from health care professionals located at the airport before moving on to an airport representative who will review their declaration form.
Passengers without a fever will proceed to have their declaration form reviewed. Once the passenger’s declaration form is reviewed, they will proceed to the self-quarantine station, where they will initial and sign the self-quarantine order and acknowledged that they understand the order. By signing the document, they acknowledge they are subject to a $5,000 fine and/or a year in jail if they violate the order.
Once the order is signed, representatives will verify they can reach the passenger’s phone by calling it in front of them. If the phone doesn’t ring, or the person refuses to provide the airport with an accurate phone number, law enforcement will be called. Representatives will also verify where the passenger will be staying by calling hotels and confirming reservations for visitors, or confirming home addresses for residents.
Passengers will not be allowed to leave the airport until all the information is confirmed and the quarantine order is signed.
“I myself was one of the people verifying the passenger information yesterday. The process is slower, but it is effective,” said Director Jade Butay, Hawaii Department of Transportation. “People must understand this is not the time to be vacationing in Hawaii, but if they do, they must abide by the traveler quarantine order and be prepared to stay inside for 14 days.”
Once passengers leave, employees from the HDOT Administrative Division and from the Hawaii Tourism Authority (HTA) will call the passengers to verify that they are obeying the quarantine order throughout the 14 days.