Hawaii - added COVID requirements for Canadian travelers over Mainland USA travelers
 

They open October 15 to Canadians, has anyone else from Canada (or specifically Alberta) found any answers on whether our PCR test is valid for pre-test admittance into Hawaii ? I keep reading Hawaii is working with the provinces but haven’t seen any clear answer

They are not valid.

Long story short - you need a lab that meets the U.S. standards. Unless you get your lab done in the U.S., or there is an actual lab in Canada that meets the U.S. standards (like Lifelabs Genetics in Toronto, ON), the test result will not be recognized.

I can confirm that neither Alberta Precision Laboratories nor DynaLIFE Medical Labs meet the U.S. standards for Hawaii purpose.

Can I ask how you know? Seems like a big deal as there was a lot of talk about getting Canadians back in

I am a Hawaii resident, and I know this will not answer you question about which Canadian labs to use, but I feel it is worth posting. Our state government has had multiple false starts with this pre-arrivals testing program, and another delay cannot be ruled out. Also, we still have an interisland travel quarantine until at least the end of October, and the Big Island of Hawaii has announced it will not admit tourists under the new testing regime. Beyond that, there are still substantial restrictions on which attractions and businesses can be open. Unless you are primarily coming to visit friends or family, your vacation experience will likely be limited. Caveat emptor.

Yes, I have read similar accounts. Thanks for the reply. My family has a spot in Honolulu, but it isn't clear what sort of things in Waikiki will be open by the 15th, etc. I had read that Ala Moana Center had opened in late september, and I believe beaches are open again for limited groups? Overall though not a lot of clarity.

It appears that the HI authorities are approving testing facilities on an ongoing basis, although the Governor's proclamation only stated the lab must be CLIA approved.

I found Canadian company that does the tests in Alberta, https://ichorblood.ca/. Well, they do the swabs (mobile or at one of the local clinics). Then they courier to the Virginia, where the actual test is conducted, I presume by a lab with the right US designation. Results in 48 hours.

These test would for sure work for other sun destinations. They should also work for Hawaii, if one were to take the proclamation at face value, but the details from the State government are still in the works.

I reached out to Air Canada (guessed the email of a relevant authority there) yesterday, and they replied that yes, Hawaii's rules don't really work for Canadians, as the CLIA designation is US-based one, and that Air Canada is working with them to get an international equivalent accepted (ISO - xxxxxx).

But, looking at what the local mayors are doing, it looks more and more like this reopening is not really happening the way we had hoped.

I did see somewhere that the ISO # had been communicated by hawaii (instead of CLIA designation), but I do not have that # handy, forget where I saw it. Either way I was unable to confirm the clinic I had a recent test at matched based on the document I received with my test results not having the ISO number stated

As of now, there aren’t any Canadian labs that meet the CLIA-recognized criteria for Hawaii except for two in the entire country. I have just booked a test in SEA with a two hour guaranteed result that is accepted by Hawaii so you can always fly through a US city that offers tests from labs that Hawaii has partnered with. Several airlines are offering it such as Alaska, Hawaiian and United to name the ones I am aware of.

Well, not quite accurate about the Big Island. The Mayor is considering opting out but has not quite decided yet.

https://www.westhawaiitoday.com/2020...sting-program/

Hawaii County Mayor Harry Kim has not made a decision to opt out of the Oct. 15 pre-travel testing program.

“A definitive decision has not been made yet — it’s forthcoming this week,” Maurice Messina, Kim’s executive assistant and chief of staff, said Tuesday morning.
The mayor’s decision on whether to participate will be made after receiving information from a team being set up to “address logistics for a second test” for arriving passengers from the mainland, said Messina.

To be clear, here is the specific requirement directly from the Hawaii state government website (which is the only place one should look for accurate information about what Hawaii permits or requires.

Beginning October 15, passengers who successfully complete a pre-travel test will not be subject to the state’s 14-day quarantine program. Currently approved is the processing by laboratories that are licensed or certified by Clinical Laboratories Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of specimens for nucleic acid amplification testing approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration, pursuant to an Emergency Use Authorization or other authorization for COVID-19 testing.

I suspect that it is unlikely that a Canadian lab will have the FDA emergency authorization.

You may want to check with Labcorp. It will mail a test kit with a prepaid Fedex label which then gets you a certified result in 24-48 hours (well within the Hawaii requirement). I can't tell you whether that works for Canada, but Labcorp is a phone call away.

I've done the Labcorp Pixel test at home a couple times and have gotten the results 16 & 26 hours after fedex delivered the swab to them.

Downside is the lab tests always list the date/time the sample was taken, not just the result posting time. So that adds another 16-24 hours to those numbers, making it difficult to reliably meet travel restrictions. They warn about longer turnaround times as well.

Another snag, at least for us, is that in the US RiteAid, CVS, Wamart drone swab delivery, and Pixel Labcorp will not test anyone under 18 years old.

I believe by now, you should know how the whole thing is structure.

To supplement, I know neither Alberta Precision Laboratories nor DynaLIFE Medical Labs meet the U.S. standards for Hawaii purpose, as CLIA-compliant lab is searchable at CDC's website. Based on my understanding, both of them are providers for Alberta's provincial health insurance.

Don't assume. Seriously.

There should be labs in Canada which are CLIA-compliant. At least, I am able to find one.

(The CLIA Lab Search is based on name and registration. So it is extremely difficult to search a Canadian lab if you don't know the labs.)

I will not risk it. FWIW - HI Government has not said how long the test result is valid. So I am not really sure mailing specimen works in this case.

You have it the wrong way round. The sample kit is mailed to the passenger, it is then overnighted via Fedex back to the lab. One can (and ought to) order the test kit well in advance and simply hold it until one is just within the window.. This may not help someone with a last second journey, but for the most part, there is no reason not to order the test kit a month out and then submit it.

There is always the risk that Fedex loses the package or whatever, but labs lose samples too. Only so much to be done.

As someone has pointed out to you in another thread, Hawaii requires the test to be observed so this mail in test in not acceptable for the purpose of this thread. Please stop spreading misinformation.

A few things:

1. Yes, the test needs to be supervised. I forget which US airline has a system whereby the sample-taking is overseen by a medical professional via zoom. So there are ways to make it work, and I believe HI has indicated that arrangement would be okay.

2. Yes, there are CLIA-certified labs in Canada, but it does look like the ones we are all familiar with as patients in Alberta are not. The AB government lab that does the covid tests has a couple of "stickers" on its website re. certification/affiliation, but CLIA isn't one of them.

3. The HI Governor proclamation is drafted a bit clumsily. It should be read as having two separate requirements:

The emergency use authorization relates specifically to the type of test. The Abbott ID NOW test for example has that exact type of approval. So, 1. the lab must be CLIA-certified; and 2. the test that the lab administers must be a nucleic acid test that's basically FDA-approved.

Unless the "someone" is Governor Ige, I'll stick with the language on the state's official website. For all I know, the language you believe someone else believes they saw was once there. But, it is not now. Nonetheless, you raise a good point. Anyone contemplating travel ought to look at the official website of the destination and then do it again before they travel.

"Beginning October 15, passengers who successfully complete a pre-travel test will not be subject to the state’s 14-day quarantine program. Currently approved is the processing by laboratories that are licensed or certified by Clinical Laboratories Improvement Amendments (CLIA) of specimens for nucleic acid amplification testing approved or authorized by the United States Food and Drug Administration, pursuant to an Emergency Use Authorization or other authorization for COVID-19 testing."