Speaker Saiki Urges Gov. Ige to Implement a Hawai‘i Health Pass Requirement

In response to the Governor’s statements regarding Friday’s COVID-19 case count, Speaker Scott Saiki said more needs to be done.

In a statement, he called on the governor to implement a Hawaiʻi health pass requirement for places like restaurants, gyms and stores.

“To control COVID-19, the Governor needs to do more than request the public’s cooperation. The Governor should implement a health pass that will require persons to show proof of full vaccination to enter establishments, such as restaurants, gyms, and stores. I am confident that Hawaiʻi residents will support such a move because they want to protect their children, families and friends.”

The request comes as the state Department of Health reported an additional *1,167 COVID-19 cases on Friday, including 115 in Maui County, with state health officials calling the situation a crisis. Maui County has an average of 57 new cases with a 6.5% test positivity rate over 14 days. 

Maui Health officials say, health care workers are caring for 30 COVID-19 positive patients in Maui County, with four in intensive care and three on a ventilator. All but one of these patients is unvaccinated. The hospital also announced that in collaboration with the Healthcare Association of Hawaiʻi, it will be welcoming several rapid response nurses and respiratory therapists to assist in caring for COVID-19 patients. 

County officials say they are also meeting with the National Guard on a regular basis and the state Department of Health has requested that they be used to increase capacity in contact tracing.

Through Aug. 13, 2021, an estimated 1,797,402 doses of vaccine have been administered statewide. The state’s total population is 1,415,857.  The DOH reports that 68.9% of the state population has had one dose of vaccination, and 61.2% have completed full vaccination. On Maui, the DOH reports that 64% of the total population in Maui County has initiated a vaccine, while 55% have completed a full course of vaccination.