Mufi's Message 3.27.20

COVID-19 Update

Today is the second day of Governor David Ige's mandatory, 14-day quarantine for all individuals who have flown into the State of Hawai'i. The final passenger counts from yesterday clearly indicate a staggering reduction in arrivals, especially in visitor arrivals.

In short: this is working.

1589 passengers flew into Hawai'i yesterday. Of these, only 268 were visitors. This breaks down to roughly 15% of all statewide arrivals being visitors. To further contextualize this data, you can look back to March 2019 where you will see that, over the course of the entire month, Hawai'i tallied more than 927,000 visitor arrivals. This equates to roughly 30,000 visitor arrivals each day. To have reduced this number to 268 is clear evidence that the various measures enacted to slow COVID-19 are effective and must remain in place for the time being.

In other news, HLTA staff has been reaching out to our members around the state. While the news that a property is suspending operations never sits well with any of us, I have been bolstered by the numerous reports of our members doing what they can to support their teams. From distributing care packages of groceries, to honoring scheduled promotions, to continuing to make payroll each week, to striving to maintain their benefits, I have never been more proud to see our industry, and our community, pull together and lift each other up as we face COVID-19 together. Each of these acts of compassion and kindness is a glaring reminder that the spirit of aloha is alive and well.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me or any of the HLTA staff if we may be of service to you during these uncertain times.

Mahalo,
Mufi

Links & Resources

Local COVID-19 Media Coverage
"Local healthcare workers fear they can't protect loved ones," KITV4, March 25, 2020
"Hawaii's visitor industry is ready to help with coronavirus crisis," March 26, 2020
"2 arrested, 70 cited for violating stay-at-home orders, Honolulu police say," March 26, 2020
​"State: random calls can be made to make sure visitors who just arrived are quarantined in hotel rooms," KHON2, March 26, 2020
"Arriving passengers face 14 days of mandatory self-isolation, based on the honor system," March 27, 2020

HLTA Communications from this Week
State Sets up Call Center to Provide Assistance for Unemployment Claimants - March 23, 2020
COVID-19 Update - March 23, 2020
COVID-19 Update - March 25, 2020
Hotel Quarantine Procedures - March 25, 2020
COVID-19 Update - March 26, 2020