There’s no secret that Hawaii isn’t doing well in its fight against COVID-19. But, if you look around, you’d think that everything was mostly back to normal. So, thanks to this and to Hawaii’s dire situation, a large gathering ban is going into effect on Oahu.
The Delta variant of COVID-19 is running rampant everywhere – that’s no different here in Hawaii. While we’re certainly not doing quite as bad as other parts of the country, Hawaii is certainly in bad shape. At the moment, every single pandemic metric is worse than it’s ever been – our daily new case rate, our test positivity rate, number of active cases, and our hospitalization rate, are all much higher than at any other point in the pandemic. And that last point is of a particular concern, as many Oahu and Hawaii County hospitals are now running out of capacity. In fact, some hospitals on Oahu are over capacity and are actively turning away patients.
What’s more, unlike earlier in the pandemic, the vast majority of Hawaii’s infections are thanks to community spread. Yet, nearly half of Hawaii residents refuse to get vaccinated, while another subset of these people refuses to adhere to safer practices. Thus, here we are.
Large Gathering Ban Going into Effect on Oahu
On Monday, Honolulu Mayor Rick Blangiardi, the same mayor that said he’d implement new restrictions over his dead body, announced new restrictions. Specifically, a ban on large gatherings is going into effect in an effort to curb our growing rate of infection. This includes managed events, which officials previously exempted from our current capacity limits of 10 indoors and 25 outdoors. That means all weddings, funerals, meetings, conventions, sporting events, etc. over 10 people at indoor venues and 25 at outdoor venues cannot proceed. This also means that the popular Van Gogh Exhibit at the Hawaii Convention Center must shut down.
So, when does this new restriction go into effect? Tomorrow, August 25, and are set to last at least through September 22. Oh, and, stupidly, churches continue to be exempt from this new restriction. This is despite the fact that churches are major sources of infection for u.
Governor Ige Asks Visitors to Stay Away Again
Yesterday, Governor David Ige held a press conference to announce his efforts to try to curb the spread of COVID. Ige, for some reason, continues to think travel is the problem. And, sure, 15% of all COVID cases in Hawaii come from travel. But, a whopping 85% of all cases are the result of community spread. However, Ige isn’t interested in instituting any new restrictions, at least for now. So, Ige took a page out of his own playbook and asked visitors to stay away from Hawaii right now. What’s more, he’s also asking Hawaii residents to stop all leisure travel.
Ige, of course, took things a little farther than asking the general public to refrain from traveling. He also announced that he asked hoteliers and airlines to discourage people from traveling to the islands. I find that utterly hilarious. Do you honestly think any hotelier or airline is going to actively discourage people from using their services? Methinks not.
That said, Lt. Gov. Josh Green says there are active discussions regarding the implementation of vaccine requirements for indoor activities, such as dining, gyms, and more. A curfew is also under consideration to “reduce the chances of injuries” to help relieve the strain on our hospitals. Lastly, officials are considering bringing back pre-travel testing for everyone, though they admit this is the least likely initiative to happen. Governor Ige did also say that going into full lockdown again is possible.
Final Thoughts
Look, Governor Ige is right. Everyone needs to do their part to stop the spread of this damn virus. And while I acknowledge that travel isn’t the best idea right now, Ige’s claim that travel is responsible for most of our cases is disingenuous. His own health officials are saying that the vast majority of the time, Hawaii residents are to blame. So, much like the rest of the country, the only way to stop the spread is to 1) get vaccinated and 2) wear a mask and practice social distancing. As a result, we should focus on those initiatives – perhaps like the aforementioned vaccine requirements. But, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.
I thought the vaccine solved everything?
it would if people would get it. Hawaii is only at 62% vaccinated. That means at least 2/5 people can potentially still get sick.