HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hotel properties have now received the information from the state to implement quarantine exemptions for travelers who have tested negative for coronavirus starting on Oct. 15.
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The Prince Waikiki General Manager Joshua Hargrove said they will know the quarantine status of a guest through a profile they create on the state’s safe travels online system.
“When they come into the lobby we can see, we’re going to have the QR code and next to it says if this guest has been screened, do they need to go into quarantine, do they have any exemptions,” Hargrove said. “It has all of the pieces that we need at the front desk to begin our process.”
The process at their property will include placing guests who are under quarantine and those who are exempted into separate towers of the property. Those who are to remain inside their rooms for two weeks will be given a one-time use key card, and will be reminded of the quarantine rules.
Hargrove said, “More importantly for our staff, they know when they go to service that room on that floor that this is a quarantined guest and to make sure they follow all of the protocols and processes, all of the training that we’ve done so that you’re safe.”
The hospitality industry is seeing a slow pick-up of demand since the pre-travel test was announced. Unite Here Local 5’s Financial Secretary and Treasurer Eric Gill said it has only been a portion of hotels that are reopening and bringing back employees.
He said they have no guarantee that the employees who were laid-off will be among the first to be called back.
Gill said, “The hotels should make a promise for the people that got laid off that they will be the ones to come back when the business comes back.”
The Hawaii Tourism Authority President John De Fries said in an ideal world every worker would be vaccinated for the virus before returning to work, but the reality is that the industry cannot remain stalled.
De Fries said, “There’s a tremendous amount of anxiety and fear of the unknown, people returning to a job that is not exactly the same job they left back in March.”
Gill said the union is also training employees on their workers rights as they return.
Gill said, “Hotels have waited last minute and are now rushing to do what should have been done over the last few months, so we’re working with it, we are training our workers on their rights in terms of safety.”
