Mayor outlines plan to get more of Oʻahu safely back to work
News Release from Office of the Mayor, May 27, 2020
HONOLULU – Mayor Kirk Caldwell today announced that he submitted the City and County of Honolulu’s proposal to Governor David Ige for approval to allow for the safe reopening of more Oʻahu designated businesses and operations. These businesses and operations, if approved, will be allowed to reopen under guidelines and recommendations to ensure safety for both employees of these establishments and customers/clients.
UPDATE: Governor Approves.
As part of Mayor Caldwell’s proposal, “Personal Service Providers” would be allowed to resume operations with modifications on Friday, May 29. “Personal Service Providers” include barbers, beauty operators, including hairdressers, nail technicians, and tattoo artists. These service providers must ensure:
Compliance with all State of Hawaiʻi and City statutory and regulatory requirements and standards;
Arrange seating in the establishment so that customers are separated from other customers by six feet between booths/stations or have physical barriers between them
Implement additional mitigation measures when strict physical distancing of at least six feet is not feasible for a specific task;
Ensure that all equipment that comes into direct contact with customers/clients and all furniture in service areas (such as chairs, capes, and the shampooing area in a barber shop or salon) is completely cleaned and disinfected between each customer/client in accordance with CDC guidelines and applicable law;
No waiting areas are allowed.
Details related to the reopening of these designated businesses and operations will be published in the Mayor’s Ho‘oulu i Honolulu Order 3.0 (Restore Honolulu Order 3.0) pending approval by Governor Ige.
“Getting more of our residents back to work safely is one of our top priorities right now,” said Mayor Caldwell. “Oʻahu’s unemployment rate jumped to 20% last month, with even more who haven’t filed for unemployment yet or aren’t eligible but are struggling to make ends meet. We feel it’s important to keep the public up-to-date with our proposals so that businesses will have sufficient lead time to properly prepare for a safe reopening approved by the Governor. I thank the Governor and his staff for working with us to safely return our state to a more open way of life and I’m confident we’ll be able to get this done while protecting the health and safety of our residents.”
As part of Mayor Caldwell’s proposal pending approval, outdoor attractions may be able to resume operations with limitations as soon as Thursday, May 28. Public and private outdoor attractions, such as but not limited to sea life attractions, water parks, pools, campgrounds, People’s Open Markets, shooting and archery ranges, and similar outdoor facilities may reopen under the following conditions:
Groups are limited to ten individuals, and where multiple groups are present, operators must implement measures to ensure that they must maintain six feet of physical distance between each other at all times (i.e. no mingling between groups);
Indoor portions of the facility must remain closed, unless such portion is authorized under another section of the Mayor’s Order and comply with any restrictions imposed;
To the extent consistent in this section of the Order, and to the extent reasonable practicable the facility operators and participants shall follow applicable guidance from the CDC;
Individuals must comply with any lawful requirements imposed by the Outdoor Attraction operator.
These are just a few of the requirements for outdoor attractions to reopen with limitations. The full list will be in the Mayor’s Ho‘oulu i Honolulu Order 3.0. The Honolulu Zoo is included in this category of outdoor attractions but is targeting for a June 5 opening date.
As part of Mayor Caldwell’s proposal, the following would be allowed to resume operations on the following dates:
June 5: business/commercial offices (in addition to restaurants that were already announced), indoor residential, non-commercial gatherings of 10 or less (regardless of household)
June 19: indoor operations (such as movie theatres and museums with modifications), and fitness centers with modifications
Reopening of City park facilities, including City gymnasiums and City swimming pools and other indoor and outdoor City park facilities will be announced by the Department of Parks and Recreation (“DPR”) at later dates, depending on when DPR determines that these City facilities are prepared to reopen safely for members of the public. Requirements, conditions, and opportunities for reopening differ according to the type of business or operation. The complete lists of guidelines will be published as they are approved.
—PAU—