Hawaii is still not ready to welcome tourists.
Its already delayed September reopening plan has been pushed back even further.
Hawaii Governor David Ige said the general tourism ban will last until at least 1 October, which is a delay of another month.
"We will continue to monitor the conditions here in Hawaii as well as key markets on the mainland to determine the appropriate start date for the pre-travel testing program," he said.
Ige said there is no confirmed new date for reopening yet, but there will be sufficient notice given so hotels, restaurants and tourism operators have time to prepare and rehire workers.
"We cannot deny that Hawaii is seeing a surge in positive Covid-19 cases. There are numerous clusters and wide community spread.”
The plan was to reopen to tourists to allow access without a mandatory quarantine period with proof of a negative Covid-19 test on arrival.
Up until early July, Hawaii had seemingly contained the virus pretty well, with less than 1,000 cases.
Since then cases have surged with more than 5,300 people now tested positive.
Written by Ray Montgomery, US editor
