Hawaii Drops Outdoor Mask Mandate

Ahead of Memorial Day Weekend, Hawaii Gov. David Ige on Tuesday announced that the State is dropping its outdoor mask mandate for both residents and tourists, a big move towards a return to some kind of normalcy for The Aloha State.

While the indoor mask mandate will still be in place, residents and tourists in Hawaii will no longer be required to wear a mask outdoors, effective immediately. Ige made the change after Hawaii became one of the first nine states to reach a 70% vaccination rate of its adult population and almost 50% of its total population.

The change is for everyone in Hawaii, not just those who are vaccinated. The same goes for the indoor mask mandate, Ige said.

“Getting vaccinated is the best way to get to normal,” Ige said during a news conference.

During that same news conference, the state’s Health Department Director, Dr. Libby Char, did say that while masks aren’t required outdoors, wearing one in a group is still recommended and gathering size restrictions remain in place.

There is also no timeline yet for dropping the indoor mask mandate.

As far as travel restrictions, Ige said he expects to drop the COVID-19 test requirement for inbound travelers who have been vaccinated sometime in June. Hawaii would need to implement software in order to track vaccinated records while protecting everybody’s privacy. Ige said he expects Hawaii to be able to do that “later on this summer.”

While those rules are standard island-wide, there are other rules that differ depending on what Hawaii island guests or residents are on. For more on Hawaii, join Travel Market Report on Thursday when it talks live with Hawaii-based travel advisor Stacey Small of Elite Travel International. The talk is live and free to register.