Like many places in the world, Hawaii spent the Thanksgiving holiday without much trouble. But now, the Omicron variant of COVID-19 is starting to spread in Hawaii, and fast.

The islands reported 961 new cases on Wednesday, with a maximum of 866 cases on the island of Oahu. Yesterday, the 7-day moving average was 660 cases.

A look at the data shows that the increase in instances has been solid in recent weeks. On December 8, the number of daily instances was 72 and the 7-day average was 98.

The increase in numbers was enough to prompt Gov. David Ige to urge citizens to take precautions, calling the spread “alarming” and asking citizens to think carefully about their vacation plans.

But for now, no adjustments have been made to the Safe Travels Hawaii program, nor to any travel-related COVID restrictions and policies, and Ige noted that hospitalizations are still low.

Of course, this can temporarily replace Hawaii, where isolation is characterized by a lack of options when it comes to hospital capacity.

While Ige continues to monitor the island of Oahu, his home, the mayors of neighboring islands are also intervening.

Big Island Mayor Mitch Roth and Kauai Mayor Derek Kawakami recently spoke with KHON2 about the outbreak and whether or not to reinstate restrictions (both interviews are connected above their names).

So far, no resolution has been made, but if things continue as they are, it may not be long before Hawaii reinstates restrictions like many destinations in Europe and Southeast Asia.