Mostly virus-free Kauai hit by pandemic after travel resumes

HONOLULU — On Hawaii’s rural island of Kauai, where sprawling white sand beaches and dramatic seaside mountains attract visitors from around the world, local residents spent the first seven months of the pandemic sheltered from the viral storm. Early and aggressive local measures coupled with a strictly enforced statewide travel quarantine kept Kauai’s 72,000 residents mostly healthy — the island had only 61 known coronavirus cases from March through September. Despite Hawaii’s cautious effort at reopening that allowed travelers who tested negative for COVID-19 before they flew to the state to sidestep quarantine rules, the Kauai spike illustrates the difficulty of preserving public health — even on an isolated island — when economic recovery relies on travel. “I wouldn’t be as afraid.” Pascua and his wife, who works at the same hotel, have gotten by with unemployment benefits but he knows people who “haven’t even gotten a check yet, one check from unemployment.” Despite the new infection surge and record deaths on the U.S. mainland, top Hawaii officials insist that the pre-travel testing program works. Travel “introduces a continuous stream of new infections,” said Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai’s officer for the state health department.