Could a Hawaii shutdown happen?
116 thoughts on “Updated: Restrictions, Vaccine Passport, Shutdown? | Nearly 1K Cases Again Today”
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Home » Blog » Hawaii Travel Tips » Updated: Restrictions, Vaccine Passport, Shutdown? | Nearly 1K Cases Again Today
Many people have written that the State cannot mandate restrictions relative to travel during COVID because it violates their rights…..I would suggest that those people read the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which gives the States authority to take public emergency actions like quarantines and business restrictions, etc.(There’s more to it)..It makes interesting reading.
Have you considered the possibility that the SCOTUS has ruled on this issue maybe once or twice (or several dozen ew dozen times in various context) (‘sarc for those who can’t tell) since the late 1700s?
Remember, the US Constitution “says what it means what we say it means, nothing more or less, unless we change our minds” US Supreme Court.
A more interesting question is how they would rule on a state’s right to require quarantine of a US citizen who crosses their boundary.
Hi David.
Perhaps you know more about this and can share. What about Sáenz v. Roe,is that relevant? Governor Ige recently expressed concern about the state’s ability to limit travel from and to Hawaii, especially since the federal government has indicated it is safe for those fully vaccinated to travel.
Aloha.
A classic Stevens decision. Same guy that “found” right to abortion, certainly not something mentioned in the Constitution. It’s been 30 years since my con law class days, but that decision was recent at the time. I remember it as creating a “right” to travel (move freely) to another state, including to move to another state to collect better welfare benefits. Was California, of course. That was back when Deukmejian was governor. Governor Hair Gel would never object to people moving there for welfare. Those are his voters.
But, has nothing to do with a state’s ability to force someone who travels there into quarantine, especially at that same person’s expense. What has Hawaii been doing when indigent people arrive on a one way ticket with no money to return hoping to join the “campers” on one of the islands. No test and before vax days and no money to pay $2500K to be locked in the Tip Top for two weeks or 10 days or whichever. Arrest them and put them in jail to quarantine? Aren’t them for what? Being too poor to pay for their own jail? IDK. I hear Australia has created (or is in process of creating) some sort of entry prison that anyone traveling to Australia has to stay in for two weeks. The “zero Covid” countries have become nightmares to their own citizens.
When will the Governor get a clue that it is not the visitor causing the surge on COVID cases in Hawaii, but rather the resident visiting high COVID case outbreak travel destination and bringing it back and infecting the non-vaccinated residents. We visitor have run through hoops just to visit Hawaii. I was just wondering if Hawaii is so worried the spread of the Virus, why is there more testing options like there are in the Mainland?
Surely, something along the lines of a compromise between the tactics employed by Hawaii, and the insanity taking place in Florida, would be worth a try.
This situation keeps up throughout next year and the ‘Big 4’ will view the tourism economy of Molokai with envy.
Great Job BOH, you have been such a great source of info. Our Tripp to Kauai starts 9/12 we are heavily mask and planning to keep a low profile at the townhouse and the beach, this also is our 2nd try at coming.My question is can we use Clear or Common Pass now? Or just stick to Safe Travels!
Mahalo
Hi Al.
Thank you! You can just stick with the state’s Safe Travels website. The other apps are as a convenience for those who choose, but are definitely not necessary.
Aloha.
so hawaii is considering another lock down and covid passports,,the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and hoping for a different out come ,,this is insane. covid passport are not only insane but UN-contitutional too,,to discriminate and punish a whole group of people who have done nothing wrong. but oh ,, the politicians dont want to let a pesky thing like the constitution slow down or stop their power grab.
Good Day Dave T.
I share many of your sentiments and frustrations, but in defense this problem is not Hawaiian, it is global.
Nowhere are we defeating COVID; we are attempting to minimize casualties.
Flu, a near relative of COVID in many respects, was isolated in humans in the 1940’s. Despite billions of vaccinations it lives on and strikes us as I write. This may well be a very long struggle also.
At this juncture, I think the fundamental question that is evolving is not when we will be free of COVID, but rather how much of our historical freedom are we willing to surrender in exchange for some yet undefined reduced rate of infection.
There is no perfect answer and we are beginning to see the clash of ideas and principles right here in the BOH. I think this is good for I believe whatever the answer, we will not find it in the laboratory nor halls of governments, but rather in places just like this.
My wife and I each hold two fully paid round trip reservations from Atlanta to Honolulu for later this year and early 2022. We wait and watch with interest.
We note that reports released today state that Australia is abandoning its “zero covid” ambition with the Australian Prime Minister admitting, ” …that the country’s approach is not ‘sustainable’ in the face of the more infectious COVID-19 delta variant.”
Australia now moves toward a position of achieving a 80% vaccinated population as the milestone to reducing its very restrictive policies. There is no mention of how Australia will achieve this nor how long it believes it will take.
Although Australia currently has a measure of internal resistance to its highly restrictive travel and isolation policies, many believe economic concerns are a major driving force in this shift.
Also reported today in the “NY Post” newspaper: “A COVID-19 variant first detected in South Africa could be more infectious than other mutations — and may have the potential of being resistant to vaccines, according to a report. … the strain has a mutation rate of about 41.8 mutations per year, almost double the global mutation rate seen in any other existing variant of concern.”
These are not good news and are indicators to we travelers awaiting lower or no COVID rates that we may well be in for substantial delays.
For we two in Georgia, we continue to await the announcement of Hawaii’s long range plan and attendant timeline.
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Time to move from Hawaii…a state w/ officials taking our personal rights of its citizens. Why doesn’t Hawaiians speak up and say no??
Some are, but maybe others understand the danger given our limited medical resources. And what rights, exactly, are being “taken away”?
Vaccine. Mandates.
All these ideas are great; but they won’t stop the surge. They won’t reduce the burden on the health care system.
So many are collectively living in denial; how many non-solutions will we come up with, before we learn that the only solution to save the hospital system is to vaccinate everyone.
Not true see Israel data 59 percent are vaccinated in their hospitals. Israel has over 80 percent vaccination rate and has double the infections per million of the us. Us numbers is off the same data they used ending March 13 2021 !!! They used this same data for fda approval and just marked it July 28th !!! Without updating the data or including delta. Why? Because the fda requires 50 percent efficacy minimum and Isreal is currently at 39 percent and they knew that.
(Deleted – warning on not adhering to https://beatofhawaii.com/comment-policy/)
Good Day Ryan.
Good points, indeed.
The best data, including CDC’s, indicates that currently the overall breakthrough rate in fully vaccinated adults is 0.8 percent.
The world’s population is 7.9 billion.
Thus were everyone in the world fully vaccinated we could expect there could be as many 63.2 million active cases of COVID in humans. In the United States there could be as many as 2.6 million active cases.
I think just from a practical perspective the issue of mandating vaccines doesn’t work very well.
In the United States I think the issue may well turn on the question of is it permissible for the government to have a substance placed into your body without your consent absent considerable individual due process. A fundamental question going to the core of human rights and established law.
Unfortunately many do not understand breakthrough rate. Many think breakthrough is testing positive. It is not. It was until there were too many then in May the cdc changed it to only include hospitalization and deaths. One has to wonder why they would do that. So many claim look at the low breakthrough rate the vaccines are awesome !!!! This includes much of the media when in fat the data sets have changed.
Good Day Liam G.
You are correct in that breakthrough reporting is not fully understood. And yes, the CDC did change reporting to reflect only hospitalizations and deaths as successful breakthrough events.
Here is what may be an issue with utilizing hospitalization and death as the breakthrough determinant.
From a 14 week study of fully vaccinated adults conducted in Israel:
“In this study, we found that although the [Pfizer] vaccine is extremely effective, rare breakthrough infections carry an infectious potential and create a special challenge, since such infections are often asymptomatic and may pose a risk to vulnerable populations,” the researchers wrote.
The Israeli study, utilizing testing rather than hospitalization or death to determine breakthrough, found a breakthrough rate of 2.6%. Many of these were healthcare workers.
According to “Science Magazine”:
“As of 15 August, 514 Israelis were hospitalized with severe or critical COVID-19, a 31% increase from just 4 days earlier. Of the 514, 59% were fully vaccinated. Of the vaccinated, 87% were 60 or older.”
But, the very same article states:
“Israel has among the world’s highest levels of vaccination for COVID-19, with 78% of those 12 and older fully vaccinated, the vast majority with the Pfizer vaccine.”
So, 22% percent of the population represents 41% of the hospitalizations. Based on this one snapshot in time, one is better off with the vaccine. But it’s not a ringing endorsement. The better course of action is to avoid being “60 or older”.
Yeah the elder folks are certainly in more danger would be nice to know how many of the unvaccinated are 60 or older? This is where risk reward comes in. Many it’s not that big of a difference. And the risk of side effects from the vaccine probably balances things out. The problem has been politicians and government officials claiming this was the savior and now it’s not even close.
Aloha,
We your readers are so blessed to have access to real, factual information, thanks to your ongoing dedication, commitment and consistent endeavors. As a vaccinated couple, we still hope to travel to Kauai and Oahu in September, and to do so in a very respectful, caring manner. Thanks to you, we will have the latest information as to whether our trip will still occur. Mahalo many times over…where would we be without all of you there?
HI Carl.
Thanks for saying that. We appreciate it. Please let us know how your travels go.
Aloha.
I guess the Luau business is dead with the group size restrictions. These Covid 19 times have been very hard on our local businesses. So Sad.
Aloha