Hawaii Governor David Ige is discouraging travel to the Pacific island state, as recent COVID-19 surges have filled hospitals to capacity.
At a news conference in the state capital, Honolulu, Monday, the governor said it was a risky time to come to Hawaii and asked residents and visitors alike to reduce travel to essential business activities only.
Ige said the state’s hospitals are at capacity, and the intensive care units are full. He said state officials are working on surge plans at every facility to expand capacity.
The governor made the comments the same day the city and county of Honolulu announced all events involving more than 10 people indoors and 25 outdoors were canceled, and restaurant capacity is being limited. The governor said he fully supported the actions.
Hawaii has nearly 62% of its population vaccinated, and the governor urged those who have not yet done so to get vaccinated, especially since the announcement Monday that the Food and Drug Administration fully authorized the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
The Hawaii Department of Health this week reported the highly contagious delta variant of the virus that causes COVID-19 accounts for 93% of the state’s total infections.
