COVID is SURGING in Hawaii as locals become increasingly complacent and visitor arrivals continue to climb. As a result, Governor Davide Ige says that Hawaii quarantine may extend past September 1.
Last week, things took a decidedly negative turn for Hawaii’s battle against COVID. For nearly the entire week, with daily new case reports in the triple digits. And, this week, things have been more or less the same. Yesterday saw a new single-day record with 144 new cases reported. Monday’s figure was 207, but that included a reporting error of 114 from the previous two days. That brought the statewide total to 2,591.
Yes, these numbers aren’t as bad as the rest of the US. But, as I’ve said SO MANY times before, Hawaii is a different place. In fact, the CEO of Hawaii Pacific Health, owner of Hawaii’s largest healthcare system, said that if this trend continues for the next 10 days, our medical system will begin to strain. True, rates of hospitalization aren’t so bad right now at 138, but that’s up from 75 just a week ago. And, as you can imagine, a near doubling of those figures every week can become disastrous pretty quickly.
The 7-day average test positivity rate currently stands at around 5.5%, while yesterday’s rate was about 8%. Hawaii’s previous average was 1.5%.
Potential Quarntine Extensions
If Hawaii can barely handle the situation at hand with less than 1,000 daily visitor arrivals, we definitely won’t be able to handle the pandemic with much larger visitor influxes. That’s why, yesterday, Governor Ige said that, should the current trend continue, the September 1 reopening date won’t happen.
As is usually the case, Ige had little to say. He says a decision on what to do next will be made soon. However, he didn’t commit to a timeline. Nor did he say what a new reopening target will be.
Other Changes Coming
Both Governor Ige and Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell would like to avoid locking down again. But, since Hawaii’s residents can’t seem to behave responsibly, both are threatening further action.
Already, Mayor Caldwell ordered all bars on Oahu closed for at least the next three weeks. He’s also asking the Honolulu Police Department to step up enforcement of emergency orders, including las requirements, limits on gatherings, and bar operations. Mayor Caldwell is also thinking of implementing tent and umbrella bans at county beaches and parks.
On the state side of things, officials are considering the closure of state parks and beaches once again.
Hawaii Quarantine May Extend Past September 1, Final Thoughts
Let’s call it like it is. Thing’s ain’t going well here. Nor are they going well in the rest of the US. So, maybe we just forget about reopening in 2020 altogether? I’m only half joking about this, by the way. Because, even the state’s reopening plan remains seriously flawed. If we can’t handle monitoring 500 to 1,000 visitors, how the heck are we going to handle a full reopening?
Plus, you know, there’s the little issue of Hawaii’s own residents causing a major surge on our own. Can you imagine what will happen is a large influx out outsiders?
So, if you’ve got Hawaii travel plans for September, I wouldn’t hold your breath on that.