Law firm, local businesses file lawsuit against Ige over Covid emergency orders (health care, area)

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

So what do you do? Just open everything up? Let her 'rip'? No quarantine, no social distancing, no masks, just pretend it's not happening?

By now, they should have had testing capability for test on arrival with results in 24 hours.

Quarantine for 24 hours with a test on arrival or no quarantine if negative test within 48 hours of the flight departure seems reasonable to me.

They've had over 2 months to get something in place. They could have put occupancy restrictions on hotels to further limit arrivals. All sorts of things could have happened. The only plan we have now is, no plan.

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

By now, they should have had testing capability for test on arrival with results in 24 hours.

Quarantine for 24 hours with a test on arrival or no quarantine if negative test within 48 hours of the flight departure seems reasonable to me.

They've had over 2 months to get something in place. They could have put occupancy restrictions on hotels to further limit arrivals. All sorts of things could have happened. The only plan we have now is, no plan.

And if someone is pre-active, carrying the virus, they test negative?

[whtviper1]

If you are carrying the virus but asymptomatic (No symptoms) you still test positive for the virus.

Many people get this and never show a symptom (which is how it easily gets passed) but that is why you test.

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

By now, they should have had testing capability for test on arrival with results in 24 hours.

Quarantine for 24 hours with a test on arrival or no quarantine if negative test within 48 hours of the flight departure seems reasonable to me.

They've had over 2 months to get something in place. They could have put occupancy restrictions on hotels to further limit arrivals. All sorts of things could have happened. The only plan we have now is, no plan.

'All sorts of things could have happened', we could have ended up similar to NYC, or what is happening now in other cities on the mainland. I don't think Ige has anything to gain by shutting down the Islands, and some kind of an alternative plan could be put into place. But it would be idiotic to count upon the discretion of incoming visitors to monitor themselves in regards to testing.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Jungjohann

But it would be idiotic to count upon the discretion of incoming visitors to monitor themselves in regards to testing.

This lawsuit would not have happened if some sort of plan existed. No testing is not a plan and although I want restrictions lifted, no testing goes to far.

But no plan at all is idiotic. Ige should have teams of people to figure this out. With all the Fed money, I find it hard to believe he couldn't get some firm to take on arrival airport testing with 24 hours or less results.

[Jungjohann]

Originally Posted by whtviper1

This lawsuit would not have happened if some sort of plan existed. No testing is not a plan and although I want restrictions lifted, no testing goes to far.

But no plan at all is idiotic. Ige should have teams of people to figure this out. With all the Fed money, I find it hard to believe he couldn't get some firm to take on arrival airport testing with 24 hours or less results.

So Ige is just coming up with this on his own? You know better than that. If it were possible to reliably screen/test people prior to their departure, and quarantine them there for 24-48 hours, then put them all onto a plane with people that have already been through the same process.... It just sucks regardless, and all the virus wants to do is keep on going.
Check out Gunnison, Colorado, 1918, vs Philadelphia War Bonds Rally, September, 1918. Granted, different times, Influenza of 1918 was more lethal, but the approach made all the difference.

[WaikikiBoy]

I think he would be criticized by one group or another regardless of what he did. But in the end, he has taken a very cautious approach to protect residents of the state as best he could. I am in agreement with the quarantine. I don’t believe there would be anyway to have controlled and enforced masks and social distancing with tourist arrivals. Even with a quarantine many still come and ignore it.

If he had been more relaxed, the virus would have hit the state much harder. And then people would be upset that he hadn’t done enough.

The virus doesn’t seem like a big deal when it’s mostly happening somewhere else. But when/if it gets a foothold on the island, people would wish they still had the quarantine.

[Rain Monkey]

Originally Posted by WaikikiBoy

I think he would be criticized by one group or another regardless of what he did. But in the end, he has taken a very cautious approach to protect residents of the state as best he could. I am in agreement with the quarantine. I don’t believe there would be anyway to have controlled and enforced masks and social distancing with tourist arrivals. Even with a quarantine many still come and ignore it.

If he had been more relaxed, the virus would have hit the state much harder. And then people would be upset that he hadn’t done enough.

The virus doesn’t seem like a big deal when it’s mostly happening somewhere else. But when/if it gets a foothold on the island, people would wish they still had the quarantine.

Actually, what I think Ige has been attempting to protect is a relatively weak statewide medical/clinical infrastucture. We have enough professionals to handle what we currently are experiencing, however an increase in Covid19 infection would overwhelm the system. Doctors and nurses are hard to replace. They will leave if overwhelmed or become sick. Period. If they were to, we'd all be screwed. Take a moment and think about it.

In addition, the real focus the state health department is currently on community transmission
and contact tracing. The later, contract tracing, is what has been missing in this thread. It is incredibly
important that the contact history of those who are infected be investigated in order to test and quarantine those associated individuls who could test positive. The state has been trying to ramp-up, train and field personal to conduct contact tracing on all the islands. This is not an easy task, and Ige, Green and the state department of health are not going to ease restrictions until they are assured a trained, robust an aggresive
agency on every island are able to conduct contact tracing.

Read it. Learn it. Live it.

[whtviper1]

Originally Posted by Rain Monkey

This is not an easy task, and Ige, Green and the state department of health are not going to ease restrictions until they are assured a trained, robust an aggresive
agency on every island are able to conduct contact tracing.

I've watched multiple interviews where Lt Gov Green has stated he disagrees with the states reopening plans. Specifically he has said he would've reopened businesses earlier - lifted interisland quarantine earlier - and been more aggressive on airport testing.

On May 25, he said: While the hotel union pushes for new safeguards, the Lieutenant Governor thinks Hawaii could restart its visitor industry by July.

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/0...ustry-by-july/

[Rain Monkey]

I too would have reopened businesses and lifted neighbor island travel much earlier based on the rate of transmisson
we have been experiencing while under the travel quarantine, however the Hawai'i Dept of Health, while following CDC guidelines has been the entitiy making recommendations that Ige has been following. I am certain Ige isn't going to recommend lifting travel restrictions until Bruce Anderson tells him the state health department is staffed and well practiced at contact tracing. I understand the state needs about 1,000 people available and trained to do this. I think they were still short several hundred volunteers (yes, it appears the state has requested volunteers to be trained and act as contact tracers) as of early last week.

Some sort of inbound testing will be put in place and required to travel to Hawai'i, however it is absolutely essential that we are assured the limited medical infrastructure we have on the islands are not overwhelmed. Can you imagine what would happen if 150 covid cases needing hospitalization suddenly showed up on Kauai or even Maui?

Give Green a call or send him an e-mail and ask about the need for contact tracing staffing prior to opening the state's
doors to malihini. I bet he says it is a critical component to any plan for lifting travel restrictions, and it is also what is now delaying the lifiting of those restrictions.