Tourists return to Hawaii amid ever-changing pandemic rules

HONOLULU (AP) — Coronavirus weary residents and struggling business owners in Hawaii will be watching closely as tourists begin to return to the islands on Thursday without being required to self-quarantine upon arrival.

A new pre-travel testing program will allow visitors who test negative for COVID-19 to come to Hawaii and avoid the two weeks of mandatory quarantine — a measure that's been in place for all arriving passengers for most of the year.

The state-run testing program is an effort to stem the devastating downturn the pandemic has had on Hawaii’s tourism-based economy.

However, gaps in the pre-travel testing program coupled with increasing cases of COVID-19 across the U.S. and the world have raised questions about whether Hawaii is ready to safely welcome back vacationers.

Officials touted the mandatory quarantine rule as an integral part of Hawaii’s early success in keeping the coronavirus at bay.

But when local restrictions were eased before summertime holidays, community spread of the disease spiked to alarming levels, forcing a second round of stay-at-home orders for residents and closures for non-essential businesses.

Opponents of the testing program have said a single test 72 hours before arrival — especially when coupled with the option to fly without a test and still quarantine — is not enough to keep island residents safe.

But Hawaii has built an economy almost entirely around tourism and local families who rely on the sector to survive need to get back to work.

More than 100 of Hawaii’s approximately 4,000 restaurants, bakeries and caterers have closed permanently and more than 50% predict they will not survive the coming months, officials have said.

Monica Toguchi Ryan, whose family has owned and operated The Highway Inn restaurant...