Tourist spots packed

Hawaii tourist spots packed with spring breakers from states without mask mandates

Katie Dowd

Hawaii's famed beaches are nearly back to pre-pandemic levels as a spring break surge of travelers floods the islands — and many are coming from states that do not have outdoor mask mandates, which Hawaii does.

Hawaii saw 28,000 travelers enter the state on Saturday, the highest number since the pandemic locked down the state in March, HawaiiNewsNow reported. The local TV station reported many of these tourists aren't wearing masks outdoors, with a number of them telling the station that their home states don't require it. Seventeen states recommend but do not require masks be worn in public.

"I’m not wearing one right now, I’m outdoors," Idaho visitor Todd Hasley told them. "Boise city has an indoor mask mandate. The rest of the state has a mask recommendation."

Hawaii requires outdoor mask usage, regardless of where the person is from: "You should wear a mask whenever you’re in public and anytime you’re around people who don’t live with you," the state's COVID-19 site instructs.

One volunteer group called Hawaii Kapu Quarantine Violators has been keeping tabs on mask scofflaws for nearly a year. Its founder, Angela Keen, recently told KITV their citizen watchers have noticed an uptick in maskless tourists. Keen cited one airport screener who said they "definitely feel like tourists aren't wearing masks. We have tourists coming off the plane without their mask and without it being worn properly."

Hawaii is averaging 75 new COVID cases per day and a 1.5% test positivity rate. But trends are looking less rosy in Maui and Honolulu counties, where test positivity rates are up 36% and 80%, respectively, from March 7 to March 20.

As part of the Safe Travels program, the islands of Oahu, Maui, Molokai, Lanai, and Hawaii require travelers to show proof of a negative COVID test, otherwise they must quarantine for 10 days. Kauai, which implemented stricter travel rules than the other islands, plans to join the program on April 5.