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The Big Island of Hawaii Will Require a Second Covid-19 Test on Arrival at Kona Airport (KOA), which has been approved by Governor Ige. Previously, it looked as though the Big Island was opting out of the pre-travel coronavirus testing that allowed trans-Pacific passengers to skip Hawaii's mandatory 14-day quarantine.
That changed when Ige approved Big Island of Hawaii Mayor Harry Kim's request for a rapid antigen test, which will be a second COVID-19 test for all passengers who already took a COVID-19 PCR test within the 72 hours prior to boarding a flight to Hawaii.
Here's how it will work:
- Passengers who took a COVID-19 PCR test in the 72 hours prior to travel to Hawaii, upon arriving at Kona Airport (KOA), will be tested in the vacant site across from the airport, where car rentals used to be. Premier Medical Group Will administer the tests.
- The testing process will take 30-45 minutes; results from the antigen test are typically available in ~15 minutes.
- Those who tested negative twice (they already received a negative first PCR test, and test negative again with the antigen test) will be free to go.
- Those who are still waiting on their PCR test result but test negative with the antigen test will need to quarantine at their lodging until they receive a negative PCR result, have uploaded it to the Hawaii health site, and are taken off the quarantine list.
- Those who test positive with the antigen test will immediately be given a PCR test. They will need to quarantine until they receive the results the next day. If the PCR test result is negative, they will be free to leave quarantine.
Mayor Kim expects the requirement to take a second COVID-19 test at the airport to continue at least through the end of 2020, and possibly be extended. Kim also hopes to eventually implement a third COVID-19 test; this is the case is certain Caribbean destinations such as Bermuda, where a subsequent test is given on the 4th and 8th day of the stay.
Travelers won't pay anything for the second COVID-19 antigen test at Kona Airport.
Any traveler who has not taken a COVID-19 PCR test prior to travel to Hawaii will still be subject to Hawaii's 14-day quarantine, the same as on all other islands, and the inter-island quarantine remains in effect.
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