#house select committee on COVID-19

Chris Tatum, President and CEO of the Hawaiʻi Tourism Authority said about 70,000 people are now unemployed that had worked in the tourism industry and their health benefits are at risk. The subcommittee expects tourism will recover slowly because over a third of American travelers say they don’t expect to take a commercial trip until sometime in 2021 at the earliest.

The House Select Committee on COVID-19 Economic and Financial Preparedness moved from research and planning for Hawaiʻi’s economic recovery post-coronavirus to focusing on the implementation of those plans. Under the plan, Hawaii is in the first of a three phase effort with any move to the next phase tied to healthcare readiness.  The group is currently setting timelines to ensure containment for screening, testing, tracking, and quarantine measures.