By Alfred Acenas
EBC Hawaii Bureau
HONOLULU (Eagle News) – According to Governor David Ige in his monthly online newsletter, Hawaii continues to rank as one of the best-performing states in the U.S. in dealing with the novel coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). Referencing recent reports and data from Johns Hopkins University, he states that Hawaii is “flattening the curve” with a rate of COVID-19 cases per capita far below the national average.
“Our travel quarantines, early testing, stay-at-home orders, closing all but essential businesses, and mandating masks and physical distancing have all made a huge difference in keeping everyone safe,” said the governor.
State Department of Health (DOH) director Dr. Bruce Anderson added, “We have that extraordinary protection right now, but we can’t continue it forever. When we do open for travel, the disease can be introduced again, and we need to be ready to respond quickly.”
National data also shows that Hawaii tests for COVID-19 at a considerably higher rate than most states, according to a Vox article charting the course of the pandemic.
However, Tim Brown, a senior fellow at the University of Hawaii (UH) East-West Center with expertise in infectious diseases, warned that, before the state can lift the restrictions, it must have the capacity to more rapidly test suspected cases, quickly trace their contacts, and quarantine people as needed. He said the state also needs “data to inform triggers for reimposing lockdown should the epidemic surge.”
In addition, Lieutenant Governor (Dr.) Josh Green endorsed an April report by the UH Public Policy Center on how the Aloha State can finally contain the pandemic. Aside from better, stricter physical distancing, the professors who authored the report recommend the state government to:
- significantly increase testing for SARS-COV-2, the causative agent of COVID-19 disease
- augment its contact-tracing capacity by adding significant personnel
- isolate every individual who tests positive in one of the roughly 50,000 hotel rooms at government expense. Hotel capacity should also be deployed to house front-line, at-risk workers and other groups of especially vulnerable persons.
The report further suggests that, instead of following the overly cautious recommendations of U.S. authorities, Hawaii should emulate regional governments like South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, and New Zealand, which have at least initially contained the virus through aggressive public health responses.
In conclusion, the authors wrote, “The road ahead will be difficult. Yet if Hawaii leverages its resources and strengths – particularly in committing necessary spending, adding personnel, and making urgent use of idle hotel space – we may still have a chance to escape what COVID has wrought elsewhere. With good fortune and thoughtful action, Hawaii could even emerge as a model for effective, reasoned, responsible crisis response, a success story for multicultural democracy.”
(Eagle News Service)