Maui Withdraws Vaccine Rules For Indoor Dining
The policy change is another about-face in the county’s Covid-19 prevention strategy as daily new infection counts stabilize.
Starting Monday, Maui will rescind its vaccination mandate for indoor service at restaurants, bars and gyms, the mayor announced Friday.
Mayor Mike Victorino said in that the county will no longer require patrons to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative Covid-19 test to patronize these indoor venues due to the recent drop in Covid-19 cases and related hospitalizations.
鈥淭his rule change, and more to come, doesn鈥檛 mean we can throw caution to the wind,” Victorino said in a prepared statement. “We advise continuing to wear face masks while indoors in public spaces and to maintain physical distancing when in groups of people from outside of your household. Covid-19 is still circulating out there.鈥
The policy change is yet another about-face in the county’s Covid-19 prevention strategy. Less than a month ago the county added a Covid-19 booster shot to the requirements to dine, drink or eat indoors, only to scrap the booster mandate 12 days later.
New cases of the coronavirus are on the decline on Maui, with daily infections dropping 64% over the last two weeks. Statewide, the seven-day average now stands at 480 cases, a near 90% decline from the omicron spike that peaked in mid-January.
Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi said he is likely to for restaurants, bars, gyms and other indoor venues in early March, according to Hawaii News Now.
Civil Beat’s coverage of Maui County is supported in part by a grant from the Nuestro Futuro Foundation.
