Governor David Ige and other state officials briefed the community on Thursday, Mar. 26, on the status of COVID-19 in the state.  State Health Director Bruce Anderson confirmed the total case count in the state is 106.  For three of the cases, the origin of the cases is unclear, but it appears there is some community spread vs being able to track cases to a traveler.

Today is the first day of Gov. Ige’s incoming passenger quarantine order, which requires any incoming passengers to go into mandatory 14-day quarantine. Tim Sakahara of State Department of Transportation said incoming passengers on O’ahu and neighbor islands will be greeted as they disembark the plane.  Their Agriculture form will be reviewed and checked against their government-issued ID.  They will be given information on the quarantine, which requires them to go directly to their place of lodging — their home if a resident, or their hotel or other lodging if a visitor.  They must stay at that location for 14 days.  They cannot leave; food must be delivered.    Sakahara said there will be followups to ensure passengers are adhering to the quarantine.

Sakahara noted that incoming traffic has dropped considerably, with many flights arriving with 1 or zero passengers, and several with fewer than 10 people.  Some flights cancelled completely because they had no passengers.  Sakahara did not yet have numbers of incoming passengers, but as an example, noted that one year ago, O’ahu had 13,500 arrivals on Mar. 24, and on Mar. 24, 2020, there were 2,430.  He said the majority of arrivals now are local residents returning.  And that they are under the same restrictions as visitors.