Customers will need to show COVID vaccine cards or negative tests to enter a long list of Oahu companies

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow): As of Sept. 13, customers who want to enter restaurants, bars, gyms, and other Oahu establishments will have to prove vaccination or take a negative COVID test.

The city’s Oahu secure access program will remain in effect for 60 days.

And the rules will be mandatory for all companies covered by a new emergency order.

Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi announced the program Monday amid a steady rise in new COVID cases in Hawaii that threatens to overwhelm Hawaii’s health care system.

Also Monday, the mayor said restaurants and bars should stop consuming alcohol at 10 p.m.

The mayor said Safe Access Oahu will apply to a long list of companies.

In addition to bars and restaurants, movie theaters and museums will be required to ask customers for vaccination cards or a negative COVID test conducted in the past 48 hours.

These are the establishments subject to the order:

  • Restaurants and bars (free takeaway)
  • Gyms and gymnasium, including dance studios
  • Bowling alleys, porches and billiard rooms
  • Cinemas
  • Museums
  • Indoor portions of botanical gardens, zoos or other attractions

Children under 12 who are not eligible for the vaccine are exempt from the requirements.

Blangiardi said restaurant employees will also need to be vaccinated or undergo regular testing. He said the inclusion of the testing option was important to lessen the economic success that the program is expected to affect Oahu companies that are already struggling in the midst of the pandemic.

“We wanted to have a common sense approach really,” he said.

Blangiardi added: “We are trying to rebuild. We don’t want a blockade. “

The so-called “vaccine” program represents one of the most significant government measures announced to date aimed at curbing the rapid spread of the Delta variant in Hawaii.

The state and county have also instituted vaccine warrants for employees and Oahu previously announced stricter restrictions on size collection.

“It’s public health with figures like the ones we’ve seen before,” Blangiardi said. “We are begging, begging people will be vaccinated and we will do it wherever we can apply it. “

This month alone, Hawaii has seen more than 20,000 new COVID infections and 52 deaths. The figures, which were thought unthinkable in a highly enlightened state to keep their cases low, have led to an alarming increase in hospitalizations. The vast majority of hospitalized are not vaccinated.

But cases called “advances” are also on the rise, signaling the spread of the virus.

The mayor said companies covered by the Oahu Safe Access program are expected to implement the new rules. Those who are unable to do so could be subject to fines or even temporary closure, he said.

In addition to the new testing or vaccination rules, restaurants and other Oahu establishments will also continue to be subject to current capacity restrictions.

This story will be updated.

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