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Hawaii Making Plans For Full Reopening, Announcing Next Steps

Hawaii’s Governor, David Ige, announced last week that the state’s restrictions for inter-county travel will end — effective June 15. Also beginning June 15, travelers entering Hawaii who were vaccinated in the state may bypass quarantine without a pre-travel test. Wait. There’s still more. Governor Ige also said that when the state reaches a 60 percent COVID-19 vaccination rate, travelers who were vaccinated in the U.S. and are traveling domestically will be able to bypass the state’s testing/quarantine requirement — as long as they have proof of vaccination documented in the state’s Safe Travels program. When the state achieves a 70 percent vaccination rate, all restrictions on travel will be lifted and the Safe Travels program will end, Ige explained. “The easing of travel restrictions is a direct result of our robust vaccination rate, and a community that sacrificed and did what it had to do over the past year and a half to stop the spread of COVID-19,” Governor Ige explained. A Matter Of Public Safety “Hawaii currently has a 52 percent vaccination rate,” Governor Ige wrote on Twitter. “I know many of us are ready to get back to ‘normal,’ and increasing vaccination rates will help get us there more quickly.” Here’s how the state plans to motivate residents to get vaccinated. Ige explained that the state will be running a program called #HIGotVaccinated month through June. Hawaiian residents who get vaccinated will be eligible for numerous prizes, including one million Hawaiian Miles, a one-year luxury car lease, Vacations Hawaiʻi Las Vegas travel package, gift certificates, and more. “The prizes will also be extended to those who’ve already gotten vaccinated, because we want to recognize those who’ve already done their part to keep our community safe,” Ige said. Big Island Travel Gets Easier Some Hawaiian Islands have enacted more stringent restrictions for travelers than others. However, in good news for travelers, the Big Island Hawaii has relaxed its travel restrictions — and no longer requires post-arrival COVID-19 testing for Trans-Pacific travelers arriving on the island. The decision to end the testing program is due to an increasing COVID-19 vaccination rate among travelers. An average of more than 75 percent of Trans-Pacific arrivals are fully vaccinated, Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said in a statement, KHON2 reports. “With the amount of fully vaccinated travelers landing on our island, airport testing no longer seems necessary for the health and safety of our island,” Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth said. Travelers to the Big Island should take note that they still must follow the state’s Safe Travels program, which includes a pre-travel test for all Trans-Pacific travelers. Know Before You Go Fully vaccinated travelers — who were vaccinated in Hawaii — may travel inter-county without pre-travel testing/quarantine starting the 15th day after the completion of their vaccination. This exemption does not apply to inter-county travelers who were not vaccinated in Hawaii. Also, keep in mind that all travelers to Hawaii are still required to adhere to the state’s Safe Travels program, which permits travelers who test negative for COVID-19 within 3 days of their departure to bypass a 10-day self-quarantine period. More information and details about the Safe Travels program can be found here.

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Centre issues SOPs for states for global travel

The Centre on Monday said state governments have to designate a competent authority for according permission to administer the second dose of Covishield before completion of the currently mandated minimum interval of 84 days from the date of the first dose for people undertaking international travel for education or employment. The Union Health Ministry issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for vaccination of people undertaking international travel for educational or employment, or as part of the national contingent for Tokyo Olympics. “States/UT governments shall designate a competent authority in each district for according permission for such administration of the second dose of Covishield…This facility shall be available to those who need to undertake international travel for these specified purposes in the period up to 31st August 2021,” the ministry stated. The health ministry said that the competent authority shall ensure specific guidelines before according permission for administration of the second dose before the period of 84 days after the first dose. As part of the SOP, states have to ensure whether a period of 28 days has elapsed after the date of the first dose. Second, states should check genuineness of the purpose of travel based on documents related to admission offers, or associated formal communications for education; whether a person is already studying at a foreign educational institution and has to return to that institution for continuing education; interview calls for a job or offer letters for taking up employment; and nomination to participate in the Tokyo Olympic Games. The SOP states: “It is advised that vaccination may be availed in cases through Passport which is one of the permissible ID documents as per the current guidelines so that the passport number is printed in the Certificate. If Passport was not used at the time of administration of first dose, the details of the photo ID Card used for vaccination will printed in the vaccination certificate and mention of the Passport in the vaccination certificate is not to be insisted upon. Wherever necessary, the competent authority may issue another certificate linking the vaccination certificate with the passport number of the beneficiary.”

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Vaccinated passengers may not need RT-PCR report for domestic travel, discussion by govt underway

The Central government is mulling over a mechanism to enable hassle-free domestic air travel and to do away with the mandatory RT-PCR report for those passengers who have received both jabs of a Covid-19 vaccine. "A joint team from several ministries and stakeholders, including the Health Department, are in discussion to take a final decision on allowing travelling by air without an RT-PCR test for those who have received both doses of a Covid-19 vaccine," minister of civil aviation (MoCA) Hardeep Singh Puri told ANI. He added that this decision will not be taken alone by the MoCA, nodal agencies, including health experts who are working with the government will also contribute towards making a decision in the interests of passengers. At present, domestic passengers are mandatorily asked to produce negative RT-PCR report before travelling to some states, where active COVID-19 cases are still high. "Health is a state subject, and to ask passengers for a negative RT-PCR report before they enter a state is solely the right of that particular state," Puri added. Meanwhile, the concept of 'vaccine passport' for passengers travelling internationally is also being contemplated, to which India has raised objections and termed it as a 'discriminatory idea'. "Expressed India's concern and strong opposition to 'Vaccine Passport' at this juncture of the pandemic. With vaccine coverage as a percentage of population in developing countries is still low compared to developed countries, such an initiative could prove to be highly discriminatory," Union health minister Harsh Vardhan told at the meeting of G7 countries.

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Phuket to welcome vaccinated tourists from July; rooms available for as low as $1

Phuket is all set to reopen its border for vaccinated tourists from July, and the best part is that a tourism group in Thailand is offering hotel rooms at as low as $1 (INR 72)! The campaign, which is known as One-night, one-dollar, is proposed by the Tourism Council of Thailand (TCT). Under this plan, some hotel rooms will be made available for only $1 per night. These rooms are generally available between 1000 to 3000 baht per night (or about INR 2328 to INR 6984). As per sources, if the program proves to be a success, it could be expanded to other popular tourist destinations such as Koh Samui and Bangkok. Yuthasak Supasorn, the TAT governor, said, "Phuket will be the pilot destination to reopen in the third quarter to fully vaccinated foreign visitors from low-risk countries under strict rules and regulations." Chamnan Srisawat, TCT president said that Thailand has been suffering from the pandemic for 15 months now and, as of now, only mass tourism can save them. To make things work, Phuket is aiming at inoculating 70 percent of the island's population before reopening its borders to international tourists. Thailand has reported nearly 1.77 lakh COVID-19 positive cases since the pandemic began, with 1236 deaths.

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Tourism industry mass vaccinating tourist stake holders in J&K

Tourism is one of the biggest industries of the Kashmir Valley and it has been incurring losses in crores due to the pandemic. However, now that the covid positive patients are decreasing in the valley, the tourism department along with the health department are on a mission to vaccinate each individual related to this industry. Special vaccination drives are being done for the tourism stakeholders in the valley — around 80 per cent people in the city and 90 per cent in the hill stations such as Gulmarg, Pahalgam and Sonmarg — have been vaccinated. "We are expecting the situation to improve and things to come back to normal. Cases are coming down and we are expecting in the near future there will certainly be a revival of tourism sector again, and for that we have already planned an action plan which is going for 100 per cent mass vaccination of our stakeholders and the staff and similarly we will also be giving a lot of training to our stakeholders — be it hoteliers, shikara wala's, pony wala's and houseboat owners — and that is the way we carry forward tourism season successful", said G N Itoo, Director Tourism. The tourist stakeholders in the valley are extremely happy about these vaccination drives. They believe it will send across a positive message across the world that Kashmir is safe to travel. ''Unfortunately, the second wave of covid is hectic and all the stakeholders are under lockdown, and it hit us very badly. You can say it was unfortunate and bad luck for the sector. We are hoping in the coming time it may pick up. The tourism department has started mass vaccination and every tourism player has to go through this drive, they have to vaccinate themselves. You will feel safe and secure, the tourists will feel confident to come here, we have to be ready and vaccination is one such thing,'' said Manzoor Pakhtoon from United Tourism Forum. Now, these tourist players are waiting for the lockdown to be lifted so that they can welcome the tourists again in the valley.

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Indian Railways to resume 16 special trains, run 2 more: Full list

North-Central Railways (NCR) division of Indian Railways has decided to restore 16 special trains, run two new special superfast express trains, and change the frequency of two trains this month. Meanwhile, six special trains have been cancelled for June. The NCR division will run Gorakhpur-Panvel summer special train (05063) and Panvel-Gorakhpur summer special train (05064) this month. The former will operate on June 6, June 10 and June 13, whereas the latter will run on June 7, June 11 and June 14. Indian Railways will also run Sealdah-Bikaner Jn Duronto special train (02287) every Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from June 9 till further order, and Bikaner Jn-Sealdah Duronto special train (02288) every Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday from June 11 till further orders. A total of 12 special trains would be restored in the NCR division, including Kanpur Central-New Delhi (02033), New Delhi-Kanpur Central (02034), Gwalior-Bhopal (04198), Bhopal-Gwalior (04197), Lucknow Jn-Agra Fort (02179), Agra Fort-Lucknow Jn (02180), Agra Fort-Ajmer Jn (04195), Ajmer Jn-Agra Fort (04196), Jhansi-Agra Cantt (01807), Agra Cantt-Jhansi (01808), Idgah-Bandikui (01911), and Bandikui-Idgah (01912). The division has also decided to increase the frequency of Subedarganj-Dehradun (04113) and Dehradun-Subedarganj (04114) special trains from two days a week to three days a week. Two special superfast express trains - Prayagraj-Anand Vihar (04127) and Anand Vihar-Prayagraj (04128) - will also be operated during June. The former will run every Friday between June 11 and June 18, while the latter will run every Saturday between June 12 and June 19. Meanwhile, six trains have been partially cancelled by the NCR division. Bhubaneswar-New Delhi (02823) stands cancelled on June 11, June 14, June 17 and June 18, while New Delhi-Bhubaneswar (02824) has been cancelled for June 12, June 15, June 17 and June 19. Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi (02825), scheduled for June 16, and New Delhi-Bhubaneswar (02826) special trains, scheduled for June 18, have also been cancelled. Bhubaneshwar-New Delhi (02855) has been cancelled for June 12 and June 19, and New Delhi-Bhubaneswar (02856) has been cancelled for June 13 and June 20.

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