The 14-day quarantine is required for all arrivals to the state. Resorts on the Big Island, Kaua’I and Maui are going to be ‘geofenced’, meaning guests can venture outside and still not leave the property. The visitors’ locations would be tracked to ensure they remain within the confines of the resort.

Some details still need to be ironed out

Their success depends on visitors who are willing to be monitored and whether communal spaces, such as dining areas, pools and shops, would be divided between those in quarantine and those who aren’t – or whether some hotels would be designated strictly for those under quarantine.

The state calls the program an ‘enhanced movement quarantine’, which each county can develop to give residents and visitors the ability to travel between islands without a 14-day quarantine.

Learning to co-exist with the virus

"At a certain point, we need to learn to co-exist with this virus and a 'resort bubble' is just one step in the staged approach for a broader opening of travel," Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami said during a news briefing last week. He added that factors for the program were still being ironed out, like determining which resorts would want to follow all the safety and security measures, as well as testing of a geofencing electronic quarantine monitor.

Hawaii, initially seen as a model for containing coronavirus spread with just 900 cases in total between February and June, has seen a surge since early July. There have been 11,653 cases of Covid-19 in Hawaii as of 23 September, including 119 deaths.

Elsewhere, in the Caribbean, Blue Diamond Resorts decided to offer free Covid-19 cover for guests, to reassure visitors.