The Hawaii State House Select Committee on COVID-19 has invited all four County Mayors to talk at a special meeting today at 10 a.m.

In the last meeting of the committee a week ago, business leaders, economists, health experts, and legislators expressed concern about Gov. David Ige’s abrupt change to the pre-travel test plan that now requires travelers to quarantine for 14 days if they do not have their pre-travel test results before boarding.  In Hawaii County, Mayor Harry Kim just issued a similar rule, that they must have their travel results by the time they land.  In the past, travelers could get out of quarantine once their negative results arrived.

House Speaker Scott Saiki said he would ask the Mayors and Gov. Ige to participate in a special meeting to help clear up confusion and also ensure they know the concerns around the pre-travel testing and its impact on the economy.  After the rule modification was released, hotels statewide–including this island–started getting cancellations.  Carl Bonham of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization said the cancellations were significant enough to have UHERO predict possible economic losses for 2021 by $300 million or more.

The meeting will be online at 10 a.m. at https://olelo.org/ or http://olelo.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=31

Na Leo TV broadcasts these meetings, usually on Na Leo Channel 55.