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Lawmakers push for two tests for travelers, reduced quarantine time

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HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Lawmakers on a special committee on COVID-19 say the state should require both a pre-travel test and a post-arrival test for visitors. But while health officials agree, they say it’s not their decision to make.Under the state’s Safe Travels program, trans-Pacific travelers who test three days before arriving can skip the state’s 14-day quarantine, unless they’re going to Kauai, which has temporarily opted out of the program.The Centers for Disease Control has recommended the pre-travel test, but also recommends that travelers also take a viral test within three to five days afterwards.That’s a recommendation the state Department of Health supports.However, state health director Dr. Libby Char told the state senate’s COVID committee Friday that she can’t make that decision.“The governor and others who make the decision have to take into account other factors,” she said. “We definitely represent the health point of view, as we’ve always said, and we recommend two tests.”“How come we cannot agree and recognize that a two-test framework is necessary, and then use the levers of government and the resources of government to figure out how to just make that happen?,” asked committee member Sen. Jarrett Keohokalole.Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell has asked the governor for two tests and a shorter quarantine for visitors to Oahu, but that request hasn’t been approved.The state Department of Health followed the CDC’s guidelines on people who’ve been exposed to those who test positive, saying the quarantine for those people is reduced from 14 days, to seven to ten days.Sen. Keohokalole also asked the health director, “Should, from your perspective, reconsider the current mandatory 14-day quarantine period in lieu of the Safe Travels testing program?”“That’s a policy call,” said Char. “It seems reasonable, and I’m pretty sure it will be discussed. It make sense that if that were also changed to ten days, I think that would be reasonable.”The 14-day quarantine still applies to places like long-term health care facilities, group homes and correctional institutions. And the state’s acting epidemiologist still cautioned people to be vigilant, even after ten days.“This changes the quarantine guidance, but not the incubation period of the virus. The virus decides that. We don’t get to decide that,” said Dr. Sarah Kemble. “So through day 14, we’re still reminding people they still need to be symptom monitoring.”Copyright 2020 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.

HONOLULU, Hawaii (HawaiiNewsNow) - Lawmakers on a special committee on COVID-19 say the state should require both a pre-travel test and a post-arrival test for visitors. But while health officials agree, they say it’s not their decision to make.Under the state’s Safe Travels program, trans-Pacific travelers who test three days before arriving can skip the state’s 14-day quarantine, unless they’re going to Kauai, which has temporarily opted out of the program.The Centers for Disease Control has recommended the pre-travel test, but also recommends that travelers also take a viral test within...

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Lawmakers push for two tests for travelers, reduced quarantine time

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