Tourism-reliant Hawaii has a message for travelers: Please stay away.
Hawaii Gov. David Ige is encouraging tourists to postpone travel plans for 30 days so state authorities can try and slow the spread of covid-19.
Ige made the plea as he announced all bars and clubs will close and restaurants will only be allowed to serve food via drive-through, takeout or delivery service.
"The actions I’m announcing today may seem extreme to some of you, and we know that it will have negative effects to our economy," Ige said.
"But we are confident that taking aggressive actions now will allow us to have a quicker recovery when this crisis is over."
It is a blow to the tourism industry which welcomed an all-time record of 10 million visitors last year.
Tourism generates about 20% of all jobs.
Hawaii so far has 14 positive cases of the new coronavirus and has closed schools and attractions such as the Pearl Harbor National Memorial.
Hawaiian Airlines announced further flight cancellations to Sapporo, Japan from April 2 until July 18.
Gov. Ige also issued a ban on public gatherings of more than 10 people.
