2020/12/21 00:38 FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2020 file photo, a woman walks into the international airport in Honolulu amid a quarantine rule that effectively shut down the. FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2020 file photo, a woman walks into the international airport in Honolulu amid a quarantine rule that effectively shut down the tourism industry in the state. The small, tight-knit community of about 72,000 people on the neighboring island of Kauai spent the first seven months of the pandemic mostly COVID-free. Then in October, statewide travel restrictions eased and the island, which had only 61 known cases of coronavirus from March through September, went from zero cases in October to at least 84 new infections in just seven weeks. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)
HONOLULU (AP) 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. But on Oct. 15, the state launched a pre-travel testing program to reignite Hawaii s decimated tourism economy.
Kauai then went from having no active infections at all in the first part of October to at least 84 new cases in the ensuing seven weeks. The surge seeded community transmission and led to the island’s first and so far only COVID-19 death: Ron Clark, who worked for decades as a tour driver.
Mostly coronavirus-free Kauai hit by pandemic after travel resumes
Updated Dec 20, 2020;
Posted Dec 20, 2020
FILE - In this Oct. 2, 2020 file photo, a woman walks into the international airport in Honolulu amid a quarantine rule that effectively shut down the tourism industry in the state. (AP Photo/Caleb Jones, File)AP
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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. But on Oct. 15, the state launched a pre-travel testing program to reignite Hawaii’s decimated tourism economy.
Caleb Jones
Associated Press
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. But on Oct. 15, the state launched a pre-travel testing program to reignite Hawaii’s decimated tourism economy.
Kauai then went from having no active infections at all in the first part of October to at least 84 new cases in the ensuing seven weeks. The surge seeded community transmission and led to the island’s first – and so far only – COVID-19 death: Ron Clark, who worked for decades as a tour driver.