Family turned away from Hawaii despite having negative Covid-19 tests

‘I was in tears,’ says mother

Hawaii has specific testing stipulations (2020)

A family was told they would have to quarantine upon arrival into Hawaii, despite presenting negative Covid-19 tests – only to be informed a mistake had been made once they’d already flown home.

Christina Adele flew with her family from San Diego to Hawaii on holiday having taken coronavirus tests.

The travel stipulations for Hawaii are very specific – arrivals must have a negative nucleic acid amplification test performed by a “trusted partner”.

Ms Adele had consulted the requirements and arranged for the family to be tested by CVS Pharmacy, where she double-checked the tests would meet Hawaii’s standards.

“I said, ‘We're going to Hawaii. We need to make sure this is not an antigen or antibody test,’ and they assured me it wasn't,” she told ABC10 News San Diego.

However, when they arrived for their holiday, Hawaiian officials wouldn’t accept the results and the family was instructed to quarantine for 14 days.

“I was in tears,” said Ms Adele.

They had packed minimal supplies for their son; while they had nappies, the family had planned to buy the other things needed during their stay when in Hawaii.

Told they must stay indoors for two weeks, and warned by resort staff that the police would be called if the family were spotted straying from their rooms, Ms Adele decided they should fly home instead 24 hours after touching down.

However, after the family had arrived home back in the US, an email came through from Hawaii health officials, saying: “Aloha, your Covid test has been read and you have been released from quarantine.”

The tests had been deemed valid after all.

Ms Adele called the incident “ridiculous”, saying she had already checked CVS was a trusted partner before booking the tests.

State health officials told 10 News they were “reviewing” the matter, while CVS said in a statement: “CVS Health is aware of the requirements put in place by the state of Hawaii for the pre-travel Covid-19 testing program. We have more than 4,000 Covid-19 drive-thru test sites at select CVS Pharmacy locations that provide the type of testing required by the state for this program.”