Good news! Hawaii is in the process of reopening to visitors... and Hawaii's pre-testing program for Covid-19 will begins on Thursday, October 15. The state has created a two-minute video explaining the five-step process (see below).
Step one — surf to Hawaii's online Travel and Health Form. Each traveling adult will establish their own sign-in. Complete, e-sign, and submit the online form, adding any minors as "additional travelers." Verification numbers will be texted to your cell phone and emailed as well, and you'll have to enter these six-digit numbers.
Step two — enter details of your trip including arrival date, departure and arrival airport, flight information, government ID, your hotel in Hawaii. etc.
Step three — 24 hours before your trip, you will be informed by email and text that your Travel Health Questionnaire is available. Log in and complete the questionnaire. If you have your negative test result, you will be able to upload that form at this time. If it hasn't come yet, you will present the hard copy when you arrive in Hawaii.
Step four — check your email for your QR. Print this out and/or get the code on your phone.
Step five — Things to have ready at the airport checkpoint in Hawaii: your QR code, government-issued ID for each adult, a charged and working cell phone, and your test results (unless you've uploaded them ... but I'd bring them anyway).
What's deal with the Covid-19 pre-travel test? No earlier than 72 hours before your flight, take an FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), performed using a nasal swab, and get proof of negative test results. CVS and Kaiser Permanente are both certified as trusted testing partners, but you can use any CLIA certified laboratory.
What if you don't get your test results before your flight? If you're lucky, your test results will be in your email by the time your reach the islands. If not, you will be required to quarantine in a hotel room (at a hotel that provides this option) until you receive your proof of negative test results and report them to the Hawai‘i State Department of Health.
Most luxury resorts will not allow you to quarantine at the resort. The following, for instance, is the policy of Four Seasons Maui:
The option to quarantine (rather than provide proof of a negative test) is not available to our guests. Therefore, all guests must have proof of a negative PCR Covid-19 test that had been performed no more than 72 hours prior to arrival. This will need to be shown at the airport, as well as at the Front Desk upon check in.
A temperature screening process will be in place upon arrival and throughout the Resort, along with additional Lead With Care protocols.
At this time, we will not allow outside guests to use our facilities, including the restaurants and spa.
Bottom line: find a test laboratory than will guarantee results within 3 days, and you're good to go!
Click here to sign up for the Ourisman Travel Newsletter.
copyright (c) 2020 by Ourisman Travel LLC. All rights reserved. We provide Virtuoso and other Preferred Partner amenities as an affiliate of Brownell, a Virtuoso® Member. If you have comments on this column, or questions about booking travel, email me or visit my website.
No comments:
Post a Comment