Part of what you saw in HI is a reaction to the governor having just lifted the mask mandate pretty much as you arrived. They've been stricter about masks than many places, and the case numbers haven't been that high because of the isolation of the islands. The requirement for vaccines and/or negative tests before you could even land in the state also helped.

The downside is it seems to have bred a fair amount of complacency. And now that masks aren't going to be required on most airlines or in many airports, I can only think that it will get worse.