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State announces testing partners in the islands to handle intercounty travel

Quarantine still in effect for arrivals without a negative test result from approved lab

A technician processes a COVID-19 test in South Maui in August. The state has announced eight trusted testing partners that intercounty travelers will be able to get tests from 72 hours in advance of their departure. They are: Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii, CVS Health (Longs), Hawaii Pacific Health, Kaiser Permanente (members only), Minit Medical, Walgreens, Urgent Care Hawaii and Vault Health. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photo

The Maui News

Eight trusted testing partners have been announced for interisland travelers, allowing passengers arriving in Kauai and Maui counties to bypass the mandatory 14-day quarantine if they can test negative for COVID-19, Gov. David Ige said Saturday.

Like trans-Pacific travelers, intercounty travelers must get an FDA-authorized nucleic acid amplification test from a Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments-certified lab no earlier than 72 hours prior to departure. Travelers register on and upload their test results to the Safe Travels Hawaii account at travel.hawaii.gov/#/. Intercounty travelers must have the test result with them upon arrival so airport screeners can review the result.

Those who do not take a pre-travel test or who do not arrive with a negative test from a trusted testing partner will have to follow the existing 14-day intercounty quarantine or seek an exemption from the county they are traveling to. Hawaii has had a partial interisland quarantine in effect since mid-August, requiring travelers to Kauai, Hawaii, Maui and Kalawao counties to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival. Interisland travelers to Oahu do not have to quarantine.

On Thursday the state launched its pre-travel testing program for trans-Pacific travelers, allowing those with a negative test to bypass quarantine. However, after some residents and visitors arrived with results from nontrusted partners and complained of the difficulty of tracking down a test from a trusted partner in time, state officials allowed exemptions through Sunday.

Neighbor Island counties have been especially concerned about the new program. Kauai and Maui counties were granted approval to do post-arrival tests for travelers, though the optional tests would come at a cost to the county. Meanwhile, Hawaii County is requiring tests upon arrival at all its airports.

On Saturday, Ige announced the following trusted testing partners for intercounty travel to avoid quarantine:

• Clinical Laboratories of Hawaii. To schedule an appointment, or for information on locations and how to obtain lab results, visit www.clinicallabs.com. All lab tests require an order by a licensed health care provider in the state of Hawaii.

• CVS Health (Longs). Travelers may schedule an appointment up to two days in advance at select CVS Pharmacy drive-thru locations. Tests are available for ages 12 and older, and preregistration is required. Registration instructions and costs can be found at cvs.com/selfpaytesting.

• Hawaii Pacific Health. Interisland travel screenings are available at Kapi’olani Medical Center for Women & Children on Oahu and Wilcox Medical Center on Kauai. Appointments are required for screening at Kapi’olani and can be made online at clinicallabs.com/covid. No appointment is needed for Wilcox. For more information, visit hawaiipacifichealth.org/covid19testing.

• Kaiser Permanente (for members only). Members may schedule a test online or contact the appointment call center or nurse advice line in their home region for scheduling instructions. Kaiser members returning home to Hawaii may call the away-from-home travel line at (951) 268-3900. For more information, visit kp.org/travel.

• Minit Medical, which has three clinics on Maui with drive-up testing available. Interisland travelers may schedule testing online prior to travel to other islands. Appointments are required. For more information, call 667-6161 or log on to minitmed.com.

• Walgreens, which provides testing at no cost to eligible individuals who meet CDC criteria and are ages 5 and older. All drive-thru testing locations operate outdoors, and patients do not leave their vehicles. Appointments are required. For more information, visit walgreens.com/covid19testing.

• Urgent Care Hawaii, which can email results within 24 hours. To register, visit www.ucarehi.com. Limited walk-ins can be accommodated. Call (808) 797-7980 for more information.

• Vault Health, which has the first FDA-authorized saliva test and offers at-home kits with real-time audiovisual supervision. Tests are available for ages 5 and older and are mailed with accurate results in 72 hours or less. For information and costs, visit learn.vaulthealth.com/state-of-Hawaii.

For more information on latest case numbers and the Hawaii Safe Travels program, visit www.hawaiicovid19.com.

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