Two Californians Busted for Fake COVID-19 Test Results

A 34-year-old man and a 33-year-old woman, both from California, were arrested in Hawaii for submitting fraudulent COVID-19 test results in an effort to skirt a traveler quarantine requirement that’s aimed at keeping the spread of the coronavirus at bay across the islands, the Associated Press reported on Friday (Oct. 1).

The man and woman, who were not identified, uploaded fake negative test results into the Hawaii Safe Travels portal and then flew into Lihue on an American Airlines flight that originated from Los Angeles, according to Kauai police. They were released pending an investigation and sent back to L.A., AP says.

Travelers who visit Hawaii must quarantine for 10 days if they aren’t fully vaccinated in the U.S. or test negative for COVID-19 before coming to Hawaii.

Hawaiian authorities have been strict in this mandate, arresting those who violate their travel rules, including a woman who last night uploaded a fake vaccination card that misspelled Moderna as “Maderna.”

Related news: Only One-Quarter of Post-Pandemic Consumers Eager To Get Out — and Spend — More

About half (48%) of consumers said in a recent PYMNTS survey that they are still “very” or “extremely” concerned about the pandemic affecting their health or the health of those close to them, while more than three in five (62%) are “very” or “extremely” concerned about its long-term economic effects.

“The Post-Pandemic Consumer At 18 Months: Spending Now, Worrying Later,” which surveyed almost 2,500 people in late July shows that consumers want to get out and do more as they become less worried about the pandemic, with 27% planning to dine out more in the next three months, the same percentage planning to travel in the U.S. more in that same timeframe.

One in four people surveyed will shop more in grocery stores, they told PYMNTS, and 14% plan to spend more time working in their companies’ offices rather than remotely.

Also see: US Consumer Confidence Dips for Second Month

Still, U.S. consumer confidence fell for the second month in a row due to inflation concerns and the continued spread of the delta variant of COVID-19, according to The Conference Board’s Consumer Confidence Index, down from 115.2 in August to 109.8 in September.