***HISTORICAL***
The news is full of Covid updates, warnings about the Delta variant. Here is a short snapshot of where Maui is currently at.
Yes, Hawaii is also experiencing a surge in Covid cases thanks to Delta. We’ve had a real surge, going from averaging 5-10 cases/day, to the new average of 70+/day. Our island’s population is 145,000. Maui’s mayor Victorino announced this morning that Maui’s hospital – Maui Memorial – is now at capacity. The hospital has 219 beds and has the ability to add some as needed, however, they are short-staffed. Starting Monday 550 relief health care workers are coming to 19 Hawaii hospitals, Maui Memorial is expecting 40 of those relief nurses. My nursing friend says she and her fellow hospital staff are thrilled. They are pretty burned out. The relief nurses are scheduled to stay 60 days.
Maui’s mayor issued a call this morning to ‘not engage in dangerous activity’. Basically, try to avoid behavior that may result in needing hospital care. Well that’s great.
In good news, Lt Governor Green announced 69.5% of Hawaii residents (82.3% of those eligible, 12+) are partially vaxxed, 61.5% fully vaxxed as of today.
Restaurants
Restaurants are currently at half capacity. The best way to get a reservation (per my son who is part-time hosting at a Kihei restaurant) is to walk in and make a reservation for a few days out. Some restaurants allow for online reservations. Late June I blogged about some of my favorites – check it out!
Rental cars
Beat of Hawaii has announced that rental car prices have dropped. Unsure why – but if you have a rental car reservation, check back to see if prices have dropped. If you haven’t paid, rebook at the lower rate and don’t forget to cancel your other booking. Turo car rentals continue to be strong here on Maui. My concern is, what happens if your Turo car rental is an accident prior to your arrival – I assume your reservation is cancelled, and then you are back to square one.
The Canadians are back!
The Canadians are back! In fact, our sister and brother-in-law visited from BC end of July – it was so nice to be able to see family again! Paul went scuba diving and I included his whale shark video in a blog post! Sig and our eldest are currently in Canada visiting family. If you are Canadian and have a trip scheduled for Hawaii, be sure to get those pre-travel Covid tests scheduled while they are still available. And do remember, you also have to pre-travel test to return to Canada.
Covid requirements for Hawaii
Yes, Hawaii still has the mandatory 10 day quarantine in place for travel to Hawaii. If you are traveling from within the US, you can currently get an exemption by showing proof of vaccination (plus 2 weeks) or do a pre-travel Covid test. Note, all this is up to change especially as Delta continues to surge around the world. Please CHECK THE OFFICIAL HAWAII COVID TRAVEL SITE repeatedly pre-travel to make sure you have all the current information.
Masks are mandatory when indoors and on shared transportation.
