Neighbor Island Mayors Want Ige To Reinstate Interisland Quarantine
The mayors also asked the governor to keep schools closed until September.
Hawaii’s three Neighbor Island mayors are urging the governor to reinstate a mandatory quarantine for inter-island travel and keep public schools closed.
“You look at what’s happening around us, I think we’re in trouble,” Maui Mayor Mike Victorino said in a news conference Wednesday. “Oahu has a worsening situation.”
In a letter to Gov. David Ige on Wednesday, Victorino said a surge in COVID-19 cases on Hawaii’s most populated island could easily jump to the neighbor islands, where there is limited hospital capacity.
He said he, Big Island Mayor Harry Kim and Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami all agree that reinstating a mandatory, 14-day quarantine on interisland travel is the right thing to do.
He also asked that public schools and universities remain closed for a period of 28 days.
That would push the start of the school year into September. Public schools are currently scheduled to return Aug. 17 ― two weeks later than the state had originally planned.
