Starting today, Hawaii’s 14-day quarantine requirement will be lifted for interisland travelers who can clear a new screening system that will require more travel prep — and patience. This easing of restriction seems sensible given Hawaii’s COVID-19 per capita profile — ranking among states with the lowest number of cases, and holding the nation’s lowest death rate.

In addition to opening the door to progress in further reopening the kamaaina economy, stepped-up interisland travel will trial-run screening for larger-scale use when the trans-Pacific visitor arrival tallies ramp up — restarting the state’s economic engine.

The Hawaii Health Department is advising interisland travelers to fill out the state’s mandatory travel and health form (health.hawaii.gov/travel/) before arriving at the airport — three hours in advance of flights. Prior to boarding, passengers must undergo screening including temperature checks and a cross-check against a quarantine database.

Further, while in the relative close quarters of the aircraft and during deplaning, passengers must do their part in regard to mask-wearing, physical-distancing and sanitation. Even with health officials describing Hawaii’s current COVID-19 threat as circulating at a “low-level,” travelers and others must continue to guard against its potential spread.

Hawaii’s quarantines for both interisland and trans-Pacific travelers were imposed months ago when COVID-19 infections started surfacing. In early April, the Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau even issued a letter requesting travel-focused publications to refrain from publishing stories that might encourage travel while the state addressed the public health threat.

To that end, Hawaii’s mandated 14-day quarantine for all visitors and residents entering the state — now in effect through July — has slowed air travel to a near-halt. That played a leading role in effectively flattening the coronavirus disease curve, but came with a severe economic toll.

Today, reopening steps are dependent on the count of COVID-19 cases, health-care system capacity, and ability to keep pace with demand for prioritized testing and contact tracing. During a Monday briefing, state Health Director Bruce Anderson said, “We’re as ready as we can be” for the possibility of an uptick in cases tied to the interisland quarantine lift.

In regard to contact tracing, there’s encouraging progress toward forming a team large enough to respond to a spike. Through a Health Department-University of Hawaii partnership, hundreds of people are expected to be admitted to a contract-tracing cadre, including 54 with clinical health education and work backgrounds who recently completed training.

In regard to health care system capacity, Anderson said some hospitals are operating at levels well below pre-coronavirus capacity levels due to deferred surgeries and other procedures — prompted by the initial wave of COVID cases.

Two weeks ago, Gov. David Ige announced plans for the interisland quarantine lift from an empty lobby at Daniel K. Inouye International Airport. He has rightly presented the move as an opportunity to reconnect with ohana and visit now-quiet beaches, parks and other attractions that typically draw hordes of out-of-state visitors during summer months.

But the governor can do more to model how to safely get on with public life while contending with the pandemic. To promote traveler confidence in this critical incremental reopening step, Ige should himself undergo the pre-boarding screening system and venture across the island chain to promote businesses, activities and sites.

In the absence of a COVID-19 vaccine or treatment, no form of travel is completely safe. Even so, Hawaii must move forward with thoughtful risk management measures, such as those taking shape for interisland travel.