{"id":1381144,"date":"2020-04-23T13:55:32","date_gmt":"2020-04-23T23:55:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/?post_type=beat&p=1381144"},"modified":"2020-04-24T10:19:33","modified_gmt":"2020-04-24T20:19:33","slug":"hta-funds-tourists-return-flights-amid-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"beat","link":"https:\/\/www.civilbeat.org\/beat\/hta-funds-tourists-return-flights-amid-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"HTA Funds Tourists’ Return Flights Amid COVID-19"},"content":{"rendered":"
Nearly 20 visitors have been turned away from Hawaii airports and helped with return flight fares, many of them after violating the state’s mandatory 14-day quarantine order during the COVID-19 pandemic, state officials reported Thursday.<\/p>\n
About $25,000 in funds from the Hawaii Tourism Authority have been disbursed to the Visitor Aloha Society of Hawaii, which has coordinated return flights for 19 people to date, back to more than six U.S. airports and Guam.<\/p>\n
\u201cDuring this unprecedented public health crisis, we are supporting the return of individuals who arrive from the mainland, who do not have pre-arranged lodging and may need financial assistance for their return flights,\u201d said Jessica Lani Rich, VASH president and CEO.<\/p>\n According to the Department of the Attorney General, some travelers had prearranged lodging in the islands and others did not.\u00a0This week, four people have been arrested on Oahu<\/a> for violating the mandatory 14-day quarantine order. An Australian man and a Las Vegas woman were arrested by attorney general special agents after their hotel received complaints that they\u2019d been outdoors repeatedly and not in their rooms as required by the order.<\/p>\n Also this week, Honolulu Police Department officers arrested a California man and a woman in Aala Park for violating the emergency rules. Officials did not specify whether or not they had lodging arranged.<\/p>\n