The Expeditions Lanai ferry has reopened to all travelers once more, the county announced.

The ferry, which had limited travel to Lanai residents and essential and emergency personnel during the pandemic, resumed travel for nonessential passengers Wednesday, Lanai community liaison Darlene Endrina said during a news conference.

The current schedule offers two round trips on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, with departures from Lahaina at 6:45 a.m. and 3:15 p.m., and departures from Manele at 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m.

All passengers are required to arrive one hour prior to departure to fill out the new state travel and health form, complete proper screening and temperature taking and to purchase tickets from the booth prior to boarding. The cutoff for boarding is 10 minutes prior to departure, with no exceptions.

Just as with interisland travelers at the airport, ferry passengers are encouraged to download and fill out the form in advance, Endrina said. The form is available at health.hawaii.gov/travel/.

Passengers must also wear face coverings during boarding and while on the vessel.

Children ages 17 and under must travel with a parent or legal guardian. Seats are limited and reservations are required due to social distancing guidelines. Each passenger is allowed two suitcases and one carry-on, and additional items are subject to fees. Any extra luggage or freight that has been prepaid will be guaranteed boarding.

“Keep in mind though they’re a passenger ferry, and they don’t want anybody showing up with freight and they have not made a reservation for the freight,” Endrina said.

For more information, visit go-lanai.com.

On Wednesday, five new COVID-19 cases were reported in Hawaii, with four on Oahu and one on Hawaii island. Maui County hasn’t reported a new case since June 5, according to Department of Health reports.

There have now been 744 cases statewide, including 508 on Oahu, 120 in Maui County, 83 on Hawaii island and 21 on Kauai. Twelve residents have been diagnosed out of state. One case was removed from the statewide total on Wednesday after follow-up testing. There have been 17 deaths — 11 on Oahu and six on Maui.

When asked if he thought cases in Maui County would spike after the interisland travel quarantine was lifted Tuesday, Mayor Michael Victorino said, “I’m hoping not, but I believe we are also ramping up testing next week.” He said that Minit Medical would be doing testing in South, Central and West Maui next week, though a schedule has not been finalized yet and will be announced by Friday.

Victorino said that the county is still weighing how to safely open places like theaters and other venues with proper sanitation and social distancing protocols. He pointed out that Oahu is not allowing singing in bars and live entertainment, and that Maui County is considering that also.

Maui District Health Officer Dr. Lorrin Pang said that people often ask how many cases would trigger a shutdown of businesses again. Pang said it depends on the nature of the cases. If, for example, a handful of cases were reported among family members and friends who passed it on to one another in a small “cluster,” health officials could likely control it.

He compared stopping the virus to a baseball field.

“The infield, that’s the agencies,” he said. “Test widely, contact trace thoroughly, quarantine comfortable and isolate safely. That’s the infield. That’s what we do.”

The public, Pang said, has to serve as the outfield for the cases that health officials can’t catch. Residents who continue to social distance, wear masks, avoid going out while sick and practice good hygiene can help prevent the spread within their own homes, communities or schools. While the risk of transmission is low right now, that may change once out-of-state travelers return, Pang said.

“We are fielding these cases coming, and the next batter up is overseas travel,” he said.

Victorino said he plans to “really push” to require testing and documentation showing that trans-Pacific travelers are COVID-free before coming to Hawaii. He pointed to Pang’s suggestion of testing travelers a few days before they fly to Hawaii and a few days after they arrive just to be sure.

* Colleen Uechi can be reached at cuechi@mauinews.com.