Hawaii Governor Urges Tourists to Stay Away Amid Covid Surge

U.S.|Hawaii’s politician discourages travelers from visiting arsenic microorganism rates surge successful the state.

• Published Aug. 23, 2021Updated Aug. 24, 2021, 10:16 a.m. ET

Facing a surge of Covid-19 cases that is straining hospitals, Gov. David Ige of Hawaii asked tourists to enactment away.

“It’s not a bully clip to question to the islands,” helium said. “The visitors who take to travel to the land volition not person the emblematic benignant of vacation that they expect to get erstwhile they sojourn Hawaii.”

The governor’s remarks came astatine a quality league connected Monday aft the land of Oahu said it was imposing tighter restrictions connected gatherings.

“We truly thought we saw the airy astatine the extremity of the tunnel,” Mr. Blangiardi said astatine a quality conference. “But implicit the past respective weeks, cases person surged and the Delta variant has proved to beryllium much than formidable.”

The politician said helium afloat supported the actions that Oahu had taken.

Since July 1, Hawaii has experienced a crisp emergence successful caller cases. The state’s seven-day mean of caller lawsuit reports peaked astatine 729 a time connected Aug. 19, much than treble the state’s previous precocious past fall, according to a New York Times database. In the past 2 weeks, caller cases accrued by 37 percent successful Honolulu County, and hospitalizations much than doubled.

Mr. Blangiardi said that aft extended conversations with authorities wellness officials and wellness attraction providers, it was determined that ample gatherings were the main origin of the accelerated communal dispersed recently.

The restrictions mean that diversion events astatine the University of Hawaii volition proceed without spectators, and that ample concerts astatine the Waikiki Shell volition beryllium canceled. The politician said that radical would inactive beryllium capable to clasp weddings, funerals and luaus, arsenic agelong arsenic they adhered to assemblage limits. Restaurants volition proceed to run astatine 50 percent of capacity, and younker sports tin decorativeness their seasons arsenic agelong arsenic parents dispersed themselves retired arsenic spectators.

Hawaii was the past state to grow vaccine eligibility to each adults. About 55 percent of the authorities colonisation has been afloat vaccinated truthful far.

At the quality league connected Monday, officials said they were acrophobic astir debased vaccination rates successful Oahu and the ample fig of young men and women with Covid-19 who were being treated successful the island’s intensive attraction units.

Dr. James Ireland, the main of the Honolulu Emergency Medical Services, said that implicit the past mates of weeks, land hospitals had seen a nett summation of 10 to 14 patients a day. He warned that “very, precise soon,” hospitals would not person the capableness to attraction for immoderate much patients and that exigency services were adjacent to “maxed out.”

Although Oahu was acting to curb ample gatherings, which look to beryllium fueling the existent spread, officials emphasized that the champion mode to combat the microorganism was to get vaccinated. According to the Hawaii Department of Health, the highly contagious Delta variant, which is much unsafe for those who are not vaccinated, present accounts for 93 percent of the state’s Covid-19 infections.

“That’s the mode retired of this,” Dr. Ireland said. “Vaccinations.”