Hawaii’s caseload, positivity rate, and hospitalizations are down. Lt. Gov. and physician Josh Green said this morning that “we peaked on 9/3 with hospitalizations at 448, so it is a great relief to see the decline continue.”
County has an off-beat plan to catch quarantine violators.
Officials have pointed out across the board that a significant number of Hawaii COVID cases emanated from residents who returned to the islands with neither vaccination nor testing. Those persons opted instead for self-quarantine. The question is, are they really quarantining. There is a widespread belief that no, they are not.
Hawaii County Mayor Mitch Roth has proposed to Governor Ige that he publish the names of travelers who are choosing quarantine instead of testing or vaccination exemptions. Governor Ige said he is considering it, saying yesterday, “we are discussing that as we speak.”
Mayor Roth believes that it is not possible to have the police enforce quarantine and suggests that he publish such individuals’ names. Ige said that Roth “believes publicizing it and letting people know about who should be in quarantine would be a good way to increase enforcement.” The governor is reviewing the proposal with both the county mayors, the Attorney General’s office, and the Department of Health. Ige said, definitely, “it’s something that we’re considering.”
Does this violate those individuals’ rights?
The mayor said the proposal does not violate HIPAA because the information would not indicate whether the person was tested or vaccinated. But, he said, it’s something the community would want to know.”
Hawaii’s ACLU indicated, however, that the proposal is potentially concerning. Their worries include health privacy issues, as well as other possible negative implications imposed on those quarantining.
What about reinstating pre-travel testing?
Roth has also asked the state to consider reinstating pre-travel COVID testing, as had been the case for all passengers before the current vaccination exemption was implemented. Most visitors to Hawaii at this time, are, in fact, vaccinated.
Governor Ige has said he isn’t sure that pre-travel testing will be allowed again since the federal government subsequently indicated that vaccinated passengers are safe to travel.
How about you can’t fly if you don’t have a shot. That would make it easier for everyone!!!!!!
Excellent point. We vaxxed shouldn’t have to suffer since we clearly don’t spread the virus anymore. The selfish unvaxxed need to lose their rights and pay the price if it wasn’t for them everything would be back to normal. Yes follow the science or the Fauci same thing.
Hi Liam,
how certain is your science? May I also ask why you use “selfish” and “unselfish” terms? This seems hostile. However, your point is well taken and I would very much love to see links to the the comparative “selfish” vs. “unselfish” scientific data. Thanks! Assuming that Selfish and Unselfish are also scientifically proven, of course.
(I am out of work at the moment, so have plenty of time to read over the data regarding the science of Selfish People vs. Unselfish People as a Genotype/Phenotype comparative study. Eagerly awaiting your data!!! please, don’t delay)
I like the cut of your snark. But, I suspect Liam is being a bit sarcastic.
To your point, the virtuous unselfish love to call others selfish for not doing what the unselfish demand. The unselfish can be very selfish and entitled, such as commenters on this very blog post who demand that selfish locals be forced to do something they do not want to do so that the unselfish mainlanders can enjoy SAFE Hawaii vacations to which the unselfish mainlanders are entitled.
Slow 80s movie clap 🙂
Lol, you obviously didnt pick up on the sarcasm. Bless you for your passion :).. as for the science I listen to fauci then do the opposite.
Liam, you’re a prince! This is what I get from spending time on mainland with “family”. 24 hour news cycle turns us into less than human.
Mahalo for the proof
Let’s turn the Mauna Kea resort into a 14 day “quarantine camp” for locals returning from the mainland. I would be happy to sign up for that! I could avoid going back to work to support my family during this difficult financial times! Free food and drinks for all Islanders who are willing to “toe the line” on Camp Quarantine. Yes, please! Publish that list, and divide people up, and continue to sell massive tracts of your land to Tech Billionaires! Great Plan! Just as long as we’ve got Lists of Naughty and Nice Natives! Boy, oh boy! this is gonna be FUN!
How about pre travel testing only for those who are not vaccinated?
Mahalo!
Why are residents of Hawaii so special they don’t need to be tested when re-entering the islands after travel? Inquiring minds want to know!
Simplest solution is to give no option: if you are unvaccinated, you must have the test done before setting foot on the islands. If you are positive, enforcement of quarantine would be easier to handle. By the way, I haven’t found what are the rates of positive tests upon arrival and what is done about it.
For the government or health department to publish names of those who are suppose to be quarantined is just begging for defiant people to go out anyway. The excuse of it costs money to get tested is poor. If you have the money to travel, you have money to get tested. Perhaps Hawaii can negotiate lower costs of the test to make it more affordable. These are outrageous costs to get tested.
Dot S. – does your state require proof of a negative pre-travel test for you to “set foot” in the state? What do they do to people that attempt to set their feet there without a pre-test? Just curious.
Publishing names of individuals who should be in quarantine is an excellent idea and a great way to protect the health of the general population. To avoid being placed on the list, the resident has the option to be tested before returning to the Islands. The constant influx of folks from all over necessitates that controls and testing be rigid and consistent with safeguards in place to ensure that the general population is safe. Secondly, vacationing guests should feel confident that they are in a safe environment, once arriving in Hawaii. Tourism is the lifeblood of Hawaii and fortunately the airport personnel can and should monitor as closely as possible. Keep up the good work Hawaii.
Terry R – There is a “constant influx of folks from all over” in nearly every state. Does the state you live in do the things you say Hawaii should do, such as elevate the mental “feel confident they are in a safe environment” of “vacationing guests” over the rights of the residents? Just curious. By the way, we’ve been conversing with various tourists on Kauai the last couple of weeks, and not once has whether they felt SAFE come up. In fact, they all seemed to be having a great time.
We love Hawaii and the gentle and friendly people who do not seem to be wrapped up in the hatred that is going on here in the mainland. Let me give you a brief update as to what our state has done in the past three months.
1. Tightened up the voting laws to keep minorities away from the poles.
2. The Gov. banned vaccination passports to protect rights of unvaccinated.
3. Banned the mask requirements in schools. Our covid numbers/death are massive.
4. Signed into law the “open carry” law so everyone can publicly “holster up” every morning. ( Can you imagine these dudes around poling stations during next election?
5. Signed the bil banning all abortion, even for underage children who have been subjected to rape by a family member or a stranger.
When questioned about abortion for those subjected to rape, his response was. ” There won’t be any rapists on the street. We are going to lock them all up”
This is the guy our not so great state elected to office.
Hawaii is so blessed to have a state government making wise decisions
Mahalo my friend.
Presumably Texas, although I’ve not seen any news that “massive” numbers of school kids in Texas are dying of COVID. That would be terrible if it was actually true.
In any event, sounds like you should stay in Texas and work on changing the laws and people to be more to your liking. After that, you can get around to educating the “gentle and friendly people” of Hawaii on how they need to live their lives, such as by publishing names of people to shame them when they are forced to quarantine. They owe it to you, after all, so you can feel Safe when you vacation here. Maybe give them a socially distanced, double masked, pat on the head while you’re at it. Bless their hearts.
“Hawaii is so blessed to have a state government making wise decisions” Good one!
I don’t like the idea of printing names, reminds me of a “Police State”
“Governor Ige has said he isn’t sure that pre-travel testing will be allowed again since the federal government subsequently indicated that vaccinated passengers are safe to travel.”
If everyone knows that anyone, vaccinated or not, can contract and transmit Covid, how does this make any sense at all?
He isn’t sure? 😂 I’m 100% sure he’s incompetent…
He’s sure but it doesn’t fit the narrative. New York and California are doing whatever they want Hawaii can also. There’s about 50000 locals according to the stats that haven’t been vaccinated based on the rate of 85% eligible and all the natural immunity which is better than the shot. Anyone notice how cases dropped when tourists stopped showing up? Just like they cases rose when testing stopped on 7/7? If they tell people they need testing then the whole scam of the vaccine blows up.
Scam? You think the whole world is in on this “scam”? How powerful you think Americans are! You obviously do not know a single person that has died from Covid? And natural immunity is not “better than” the shot. But then again to get “natural immunity “ you have to first get Covid and not die. Wonder why people don’t just stop taking the advice of doctors on any medical issue? Got diabetes? Eat grass, it will cure it every time! Seriously people, just try to care about someone other than yourself for just 6 months then you can return to your normal self.
Jim R – Do you live in Hawaii? If not, does the state you live in require a negative “trusted partners” test, or any test for that matter, taken within 72 hours of someone attempting to cross the state line? Do they turn people away at the border, including their own residents, who do not provide proof of a negative test taken within 72 hours?
This whole pre-travel test business is something HI decided would allow people to avoid quarantine. Then it recently became pre-test OR vaxxed to avoid quarantine. It has NEVER been required to merely travel here. The quarantine order remains in effect in HI. This blog post is regarding the quarantine rder not being respected by returning HI residents, and teeth gnashing about creating a “John’s list” as some sort of way to inspire respect for the order.
Hi David,
Maybe your time on research should be about the number of states that are islands and thereby able to control who comes to visit. Also you might look into the healthcare availability on islands and how easy it might be to have a full hospital with limited numbers of healthcare providers. And why it would be so reasonable during a world wide pandemic to try and slow the spread of the disease.
And Terry B never said there were “massive number of death” of school children in Texas, just that there is massive number of death in Texas from Covid in a state that is taking NO precautions against Covid whatsoever. And by the way, the death rate of children from Covid is rising. And if that increase includes your child, it would feel like all the people who don’t get vaccinated, don’t wear a mask or don’t quarantine properly are all selfish.
Here’s something I read a couple of weeks ago concerning the rights and freedoms of our great nation. This is food for thought and unfortunately our society has become selfish and self-centered. “Freedom ends when Harm begins.” We see it all around us but we refuse to accept it because it’s “ALL ABOUT ME”. “God Bless America.”….this is exemplified with our Covid issues here in Hawaii Nei.
Aloha BOH Bro’s
Plan to Publish Quarantine Names While Cases Trend Down
Thanks BOH Bros that’s the funniest thing I’ve heard today until I read comments posts about the subject.
Seriously folks do you think anyone who is breaking quarantine is concerned about this?
Answer: No they are not…..
Here’s how a typical conversation went on Little Beach this past weekend:
Hey Braddah you back from Vegas.
Yeah Braddah I tore it up big over there. Penthouse upgrade, slammed the buffet hard, made it rain at the strip club, smoking that Nevada herb, hottie’s every where up in my Hawaiian game.
Braddah that’s mad, when u get back?
Bra last night I’m mad tired as hell pass me that blunt and lets party…..
The conversation about having to quarantine never comes up.
Where do they plan on posting these names? Folks like these do not read the paper, do not watch the news or government websites.
When auntie says something the quarantine Braddah just say “Don’t worry auntie I used protection over dar”
thumbs up for “hottie’s every where up in my Hawaiian game.”