BlueZebra

Agree. If one looks around these threads you will see discussions on the topic. The Governor has stated he will loosen the requirements involving vaccinated travelers when the CDC issues guidance on the topic. As of yesterday, the CDC refused to issue related guidance. I suspect the CDC will change it's mind in perhaps the next month, as the number vaccinated grows.

MCO Flyer

How does the KOA post arrival test work if one comes in from an inter-island transit? According to the rules, only trans-pacific pax are tested upon arrival and many will connect connect via HNL first. Are they “auditing” the inter-island flights to make those who connected in HNL take a test upon arrival into KOA or is the test not required? Very confusing rules at KOA and I wish they would get rid of the post-arrival test as it seems like a waste of time and resources for the very few # of positive cases they’ve discovered since October.

cmculp

thank you. I think I have it figured out. Too hard to go home.......

Weatherboy

While things are always changing, yesterday they were testing all arrivals, mainland and interisland, until 7pm and had no testing after that. They're still just doing the nasal swab and you don't need to wait for results.

They did catch 120 people that came in with negative tests that ended up being confirmed positive, so there has been benefit of having it.

Weyland Yutani Corp

During this entire testing campaign?

MCO Flyer

The 120 figure is the # of detected positive test since the Safe Travels program began on October 15th, which comes out to less than 1 detected positive case per day out of the thousands who arrive at KOA daily. With that low of a positive test rate, it seems like a waste of resources and time to test healthy passengers who have already had a negative test taken less than 72 hours prior. Oahu and Maui haven’t had any issues of higher # of cases by not testing on arrivals.

Correct, that number is the # of positive detected cases upon arrival at KOA since October 15th, 2020.

economyplusfan

I believe the testing at KOA was largely funded by a donor who resides on the island. That money has run out, so we’ll see what happens next. I for one certainly appreciate this extra level of testing as a visitor to the island. I wish I could be in Australia or New Zealand right now, and the near zero case load on the big island is a close second. Also, one per day is not the total decrement in island cases that testing may have prevented. You have to believe that that one person would have infected others in cases where they were not headed to quarantine already (pre-arrival testing is optional, not mandatory).

MCO Flyer

The testing on arrival in KOA is mandatory if one wants to avoid the quarantine. According to this article (https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/03/ha...ort-screening/) Hawaii County is now using molecular test that was sent to them by the state intended for citizen use, but the county is using them for the post airport arrival testing. My main issue with the testing is the molecular test being used are the least accurate out of the all the COVID test and have a high % of false positives. They do have a plan in place to give you a second lab based test if the molecular test comes back positive, but you have to quarantine until it comes back and the state won’t allow you to quarantine in a vacation rental/condo so you are screwed if you were planning on staying in one as you now have to find a hotel while just having testing “positive” for COVID.

economyplusfan

As I said, testing is optional. If you don’t test you have to quarantine. Your choice. You don’t have to have a test to get on the plane.

Agreed that there is a risk of a false positive and that this can upset one’s vacation plan, as mentioned upthread. The tests can’t have too high a rate of false positives, though, as I believe the 120 positive cases to date is out of something like 70,000 tests. That’s at worst 2 per 1,000. I would still rather they test than not.

MCO Flyer

My main reason for bringing this up in the first place was because of the Governor's request to get a more uniform Safe Travels program in place that’s the same on all islands. With neither HNL nor OGG doing a post arrival test and the current positivity rate from the post arrival test on KOA being so low, it makes sense to just get rid of it to be more uniform with the rest of the safe travels program as Maui nor Oahu have had any issues by not giving one. I want to go to the Big Island on my upcoming Hawaii trip and stay in my vacation rental I usually stay at, but don’t want to risk a last min false positive test and having to pay for a separate hotel to quarantine on the island. I’d also assume that that 120 figure does not include false positives that were confirmed with a second lab based negative COVID Test so we don’t really know the true # of false positives. Most experts state that the molecular COVID test are only 85% accurate.

mtofell

Now that some time has passed I'm wondering what the data shows in regards to big island vs. the other islands. Has the second test statistically lowered the spread or instances of the virus?

MCO Flyer

According to the Hawaii COVID dashboard (https://health.hawaii.gov/coronavirusdisease2019/) it doesn’t seem like it’s made much of a difference. Ironically, Honolulu County (Oahu) has the lowest positivity rate of 1% (outside of Kauai which is shut down) while having the fewest restrictions with no test requirements for inter-island travel. Hawaii County has a 1.4% positivity rate while Maui County has the highest positivity rate a 2.7%.

cmculp

The NAAT is at best 75-80% sensitive, but it is essentially 100% specific. Meaning false positivity isn’t an issue.

the risk of traveling to a place that tests you on arrival is an unexpected positive, not a false positive. The neighbor islands don’t have the healthcare infrastructure to accommodate much of that....

bmvaughn

Hoping this starts to change. The requirement for testing doesn't make much sense if a passenger is fully vaccinated based on the available information we have

Weatherboy

Hawaii is also reporting on "breakthrough" COVID cases; these are people who get full-blown COVID even though they were fully vaccinated (2+ weeks passed since 2nd shot.) Right now there's 3 breakthrough cases in Hawaii. While the vaccines aren't 100% efficacious, Hawaii would probably want to see some more accepted post-vaccine data before changing any requirements/rules. If there's even just a handful of new breakthrough cases reported in the next week, it would probably spook the powers-that-be not to change rules in the short term while waiting for more long term data.