Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

  Government / Departments & Agencies / Emergency Management Agency (formerly Civil Defense) / Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19)

MASKS REQUIRED UNDER LAW IN KAUAI COUNTY*

*See Emergency Rule #19 for more details

COVID-19 Video Update

Monday, March 1, 2021

To see previous updates, please visit the County of Kauai Facebook Page.

 

Traveling to Kauai (Lihue Airport - LIH)

IMPORTANT NOTE: Visitors to Kauai are NOT eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccine, even if they received their first dose prior to their trip. Please keep this in mind while planning travel

On March 2, Mayor Derek Kawakami sent proposed changes to travel rules for Kauai to the Governor. If approved, they would go into effect on April 5, 2021. For travel before that date, please see below. For travel on or after April 5, 2021, please click here for more information about the proposed rules


Kauai's COVID-19 Travel Rules: Resort Bubbles, Interisland Travel, or 10-Day Quarantine

Visitors and residents traveling to Kauai have several options under the current COVID-19 emergency rules.

If you have been in the State of Hawaii for more than 72 hours, you are eligible to take an approved pre-travel test for interisland travel to Kauai.

If you are traveling from out of state, you can take a pre-travel test, stay in a “Resort Bubble” for 72 hours or more, then take a post-travel test to be released from quarantine.

Otherwise, you must quarantine for 10 days after arriving on Kauai.

These emergency rules went into effect on January 5, 2021 after Governor David Ige approved Mayor Derek Kawakami’s Amended Emergency Rule 23 on interisland travel, and Emergency Rule 24 on Enhanced Movement Quarantine (EMQ) “resort bubble” properties.

 

Interisland Travel

Travelers flying to Kauai from Oahu, Maui County, or the Big Island of Hawaii, who have been in the State of Hawaii for more than 72 hours before departing for Kauai, can avoid quarantine by taking the following steps:

• Create a Safe Travels account and complete the mandatory State of Hawaii Travel and Health Form at: https://travel.hawaii.gov/

• Take a pre-travel test from one of the State of Hawaii’s Trusted Testing and Travel Partners after you have been in Hawaii for more than three days, but within 72 hours of departing to Kauai: https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel-partners/

• Once received, upload negative test results to your Safe Travels account. If your test results are not available prior to arriving on Kauai, you will have to self-quarantine until your negative results do come in.

• Safe Travels records will be used to verify that you have not traveled out of state in the past three days.

 

Transpacific Travel “Resort Bubbles”

Travelers from out of state now have the option of a shortened three-day quarantine by participating in the resort bubble post-travel testing program. To qualify, travelers must do the following:

• Create a Safe Travels account and complete the mandatory State of Hawaii Travel and Health Form at: https://travel.hawaii.gov/

• Take a pre-travel test within 72 hours before the final leg of departure for your trip to Kauai and receive a negative test result.

This test can be any COVID-19 diagnostic test (antigen or PCR test) with emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The lab does not need to be on the state’s Trusted Testing and Travel Partners list for use in Kauai’s resort bubble program.

• Make a reservation at an approved Enhanced Movement Quarantine (EMQ) “resort bubble” hotel on Kauai:

o The Cliffs at Princeville

o Hilton Garden Inn Kauai Wailua Bay

o Koa Kea Hotel & Resort at Poipu

o The Club at Kukuiula

o Timbers Kauai Ocean Club & Residences at Hokuala

o Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club

o Hanalei Bay Resort

o The Point at Poipu

• Complete the Kauai Arrival Form.

• Guests should consult their resort for transportation options as travelers will not be allowed to rent a car until released from quarantine.

• Provide proof of your negative pre-travel test result to resort staff upon check-in.

• After three days on Kauai, take a post-travel test. Guests can consult resort on post-travel testing options. Please note, the County of Kauai, in partnership with the Kauai District Health Office, is now providing free COVID-19 testing for anyone without symptoms. These tests can be used by participants in Kauai's Enhanced Movement Quarantine (EMQ) “resort bubble” program as a post-travel test needed to be released from quarantine. For more information please visit https://www.kauai.gov/COVIDTest.

• Resort staff will verify your negative post-travel test result and will update the system to release you from quarantine.

Properties interested in learning more about becoming an EMQ may email the Kauai Emergency Management Agency at kema@kauai.gov.

 

Quarantine for 10 Days

Participation in either the interisland Safe Travels program or the “resort bubble” post-travel testing program is voluntary.

Travelers may also stay in non-“resort bubble” hotels and motels, but they will be subject to the full 10-day traveler quarantine without a post-travel testing opportunity, and cannot leave their rooms until after the 10th day. Returning residents may quarantine at their residence without leaving their property for 10 days.

All travelers subject to quarantine must complete the Kauai Arrival Form.

 

Critical Workers and Medical Appointments

The County of Kauai continues its modified quarantine program for critical infrastructure employees and those who must travel for medical needs. To apply for a modified quarantine, click here.

Travelers approved for a modified quarantine must also complete the Kauai Arrival Form.

Flow chart showing how to avoid a 10-day quarantine on Kauai. Category 1 of 3: Interisland Traveler (In state for 72+ hours). Step 1: Participate in the state’s Safe Travels Program Step 2: Take a pre‐travel test using a Safe Travels Trusted Testing Partner (Test cannot be taken on Kauai). Step 3: Upload negative test result to Safe Travels or bring hard copy, if available at the time of travel. Step 4: Fly to Kauai. Step 5a: If negative test result has been uploaded to Safe Travels or if a hard copy of the negative test result is available at the time of travel upon request, free from quarantine! Step 5b1: If negative test result has not been uploaded to Safe Travels or if a hard copy of the negative test result is not available at the time of travel upon request, self‐quarantine until results come in. After results come in, upload results to Safe Travels. Step 5b2: Free from quarantine! Category 2 of 3: Out‐of‐State Traveler Direct to Kauai. Step 1: Participate in an Enhanced Movement Quarantine “Resort Bubble” Program. Step 2: Take a pre-travel test within 72 hours of last leg of departure to Kauai using any FDA-authorized PCR or antigen test. Step 3: Fly to Kauai, even if tests are pending. Step 4: Stay in Resort Bubble for 72 hours. Step 5: Take a second PCR or antigen test arranged by EMQ/Resort Bubble with a negative test. Step 6: Free from quarantine! Category 3 of 3: Out‐of‐State Traveler with Stopover on Oahu, Maui or Hawaii Island. Step 1. Stay on a neighbor island for at least 72 hours to qualify as an interisland traveler. Step 2. Take a pre‐travel test using a Safe Travels Trusted Testing Partner Step 3. Upload negative test result to Safe Travels or bring hard copy, if available at the time of travel. Step 4. Fly to Kauai. Step 5a: If negative test result has been uploaded to Safe Travels or if a hard copy of the negative test result is available at the time of travel upon request, free from quarantine! Step 5b1: If negative test result has not been uploaded to Safe Travels or if a hard copy of the negative test result is not available at the time of travel upon request, self‐quarantine until results come in. After results come in, upload results to Safe Travels. Step 5b2: Free from quarantine! For more information on the Safe Travels program, or for the list of Trusted Testing Partner labs, visit www.hawaiicovid19.com For more information on the Resort Bubble program or Interisland travel, visit www.kauai.gov/COVID-19 Interisland travelers wishing to apply for a modified quarantine, visit www.kauai.gov/COVID-19 Essential workers traveling from Out-of-State should apply for a modified quarantine from the State of Hawaii at https://ag.hawaii.gov/travelexemption

Those in quarantine will need to adhere to the following guidelines:

  • Under self-quarantine, you will not be allowed to leave the room at your place of lodging under any circumstances, except for a medical emergency or to depart the state.
  • Travelers subject to the quarantine are prohibited from renting a vehicle or staying in a short-term rental or vacation rental until completion of the quarantine period, so please plan ahead.
  • Travelers who violate the terms of their mandatory self-quarantine will be prosecuted and may face fines of up to $5,000 and one year in prison.
  • Travelers subject to the quarantine are required to fill out the Kauai Arrival Form. The submitted information will be used by law enforcement to conduct quarantine compliance checks.

Kauai has instituted a tier system of safety restrictions based on the number of COVID-19 cases on the island average over the past week. Visitors are encouraged to check the current case count and current tier level before traveling.


Kauai Business & Recreational Guidelines for COVID-19 Tier Tracker Tier 1 8+ Greater than 5% Tier 2 5-8 2.5%-5% Tier 3 2-4 1-2.49% Tier 4 <2 Less than 1% We are here Numbers refer to rolling 7-day averages for total new cases and test positivity %


KAUAI COVID-19 CASE SUMMARY
(Updated on 3/3 at 12:15 p.m.)
TOTAL (NEW)

184 CONFIRMED (1 New)

1 PROBABLE* (0 New)

30 DIAGNOSED OUT OF STATE/OFF ISLAND** (0 New)

RECOVERED

181 CONFIRMED

1 PROBABLE

30 DIAGNOSED OUT OF STATE/OFF ISLAND

ACTIVE 2
(2 HOME, 0 FACILITY, 0 HOSPITALIZED)
FATALITIES 1
RESIDENCE  
VISITOR 53
RESIDENT 162
CONTACTS UNDER QUARANTINE*** 2

 

*Probable cases are individuals who have a positive antigen test result, or are symptomatic and are epidemiologically-linked to a confirmed case of COVID-19 but have not been confirmed by a positive test result. Probable cases are not included in counts of confirmed cases. These data are preliminary and subject to change.

**Diagnosed out of state refers to individuals who received positive results for their pre-travel tests after they arrived on island. These cases will not be added to Kauai’s confirmed case count since they are counted in the county of diagnosis.

***Contacts refers to those individuals who are under Department of Health directed quarantine as a close contact of a confirmed case. Individuals subject to travel quarantine are not included in this total. All cases an their close contacts are contacted daily by DOH.

 

Kauai COVID-19 Epi Curve

Governor's Documents

For clarification on the Governor's rules, please email covidexemption@hawaii.gov. The most recent emergency proclamation can be found below. Previous proclamations can be found on the Governor's website.

Eighteenth Supplementary Proclamation (02/12/2021)