Hawaii On Brink of Disaster With No Plan In Sight

With a reopening date still loosely scheduled for September 1, and the likelihood of that being extended yet again, Hawaii workers and businesses find themselves on the verge of calamity. That as the state has completely failed to present a plan for the basis on which reopening will occur, no matter what the date.

We are about three weeks away from Hawaii’s planned 14-day quarantine removal with pre-travel testing. But workers and businesses don’t feel confident about the return of their jobs. At this point, the University of Hawaii is reporting based on a recent survey, that about 1/4 of Hawaii businesses will close permanently. We think that number is likely too low.

The main focus of the concern is what Beat of Hawaii has been saying for a long time now. With five months of this situation under our belts, the state should have been able to arrive at a detailed plan for the basis upon which travel can resume. This includes detailing the long-touted but never seen agreement with CVS for pre-travel testing.

The Chamber of Commerce of Hawaii hosted a conference call with businesses to discuss the situation. President Sherry Menor-McNamara said, “We cannot afford to go backward with another shutdown. The delay in tourism reopening together with depletion of PPP funds and overall reduction in business is a “triple threat…”

Kauais Chamber of Commerce president Mark Perriello said, “I call on our governor and the others in the state leadership to put together a plan, a clear plan with benchmarks and transparent datasets, so that businesses can know that we are progressing toward a date when we might reopen. Simply saying September 1 or October 1 with no plan in place is not the way to go.”

Previously, the University of Hawaii’s Economic Research Organization (UHERO) said, “We are unaware of any progress by the State and counties to develop a plan to reopen tourism. This is disturbing, to say the least.” UHERO has been Hawaii’s premier source for forecasts and analysis since 1997.

Businesses and their employees want to know what criteria will be used for reopening. At the moment, it all appears to be rather hastily drawn up plans, sometimes on an island by island basis. Companies simply don’t know how they will manage, because of the lack of criteria and a time frame.

Communications director for Governor Ige, Cindy McMillan, responded that state Department of Health Director Bruce Anderson is in the process of determining “trigger points” that would define reopening plans.

Given that we have not seen anything concrete from the state over the past five months, we, unfortunately, won’t be holding our breaths for a much needed plan.

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