County ends all gathering size limits, effective immediately

Subscribe Now Choose a package that suits your preferences.
Start Free Account Get access to 7 premium stories every month for FREE!
Already a Subscriber? Current print subscriber? Activate your complimentary Digital account.

All of Hawaii County’s COVID restrictions have ended, as Mayor Mitch Roth has terminated his most recent COVID-19 emergency proclamation.

Citing declining daily COVID-19 case counts on the Big Island, Roth announced today that, effective immediately, the state of emergency that previous mayor Harry Kim declared on Feb. 28, 2020 has ended.

With this declaration, indoor and outdoor gathering size limits have ended. However, the county is still subject to state COVID mandates, including Gov. David Ige’s indoor mask mandate, testing and vaccination requirements for County and State employees and the Safe Travels program.

“COVID is by no means gone, but we now believe we are getting to a point where we can learn to live with the virus,” Roth said in a statement. “Our medical professionals and frontline first responders have shown that we are capable of moving forward cautiously.”

Ige’s emergency order is set to expire on March 25. Ige has not yet indicated whether he will extend the order beyond then or terminate it early.