Hawaii’s governor is urging residents and potential visitors to limit travel to the islands to essential business while the US state struggles to control outbreaks of the Delta variant of coronavirus.

Governor David Ige wants to curtail travel to Hawaii through the end of October.

In his words: “It is a risky time to be travelling right now.”

He said restaurant capacity has been restricted and there is limited access to rental cars.

But Mr Ige is stopping short of last year’s strict travel rules that required quarantining and essentially shut down Hawaii’s tourism industry.

He notes the CDC says fully vaccinated people can travel domestically.

Hawaii’s seven-day average of new daily cases hit 671 on Monday, more than triple the level four weeks earlier.