How sad. Hawai‘i was in such an enviable position. The virus came so late, and so slowly to Hawai‘i, that at each stage we had the opportunity to see and learn from what was happening in the Far East, in Europe, on the mainland, and to learn.
How sad. Hawai‘i was in such an enviable position. The virus came so late, and so slowly to Hawai‘i, that at each stage we had the opportunity to see and learn from what was happening in the Far East, in Europe, on the mainland, and to learn.
Yes. Learn, learn, learn…..
But who learned?
Not enough of us….
There is absolutely nothing that has happened on O‘ahu that was not 100% predictable.
I am not trained in medicine or public health, and yet open eyes and avoidance of wishful thinking goes a long way when you try to predict something.
Why did our officials squander the blueprint they had before them, a blueprint that clearly illustrated the choices that would fan the flames of a pandemic? Why were the measures to prevent the very same mistakes that were made elsewhere not avoided here, considering that we had the benefit of months of negative examples and months of scientific study of the virus? Those months of study yielded both continual increase of knowledge of the virus’s complex dangers and of the best practices to circumvent its consequences.
It is not so often that the keys to a solution are dumped in your lap free of charge.
Did authorities really think Hawai‘i would be the exception? Did they dream and hope?
Did they really think that people would refrain from risky choices without being fully cognizant of the consequences and the logic behind the pleas to avoid them?
All I can say is, “what a missed opportunity!”
And the reality of what has befallen O‘ahu makes the choices of Mayor Kawakami all the more laudable. He and his well-chosen team have been vigorous in defending the people of Kaua‘i. Now let’s capitalize on that, and be sure that Kaua‘i will continue to be secure and prove the exception. Let’s emerge as the entity that actually did learn from experiences and failures elsewhere. Kaua‘i has always enjoyed its exceptionalism. Perhaps this is just a matter of living up to the reputation of being a “separate kingdom.”
•••
Phyllis Albert is a resident of
Koloa.
Thank you for this Phyllis. I couldn’t agree more. It has been an incredible missed opportunity.
To me, Hawaii’s leaders are well intentioned, but Thursdays statement from Dr, Sarah Park, our state epidemiologist, was especially concerning. When asked, by the Senate Special Committee on COVID-19, what went wrong, her response was, “What we could not have predicted, quite frankly, is how badly our community would behave.”
This scares me, because while we all make mistakes, when we shift blame rather than own those mistakes, we don’t learn – and will in fact likely repeat those errors.
As you point out we had the other 49 states, if not pretty much had the entire planet, to observe as they navigated the virus before us. Yet we took half steps and engaged in wishful thinking – both of which had been clearly proven to be ineffective.
To say we could not have predicted the behavior of our citizens is a serious misperception – one only needed to go out in public to observe human nature and assess the obvious level of noncompliance, even by many on this beloved island.
Let’s hope our Mayor, and other island leaders, recognize our collective human weaknesses, and prove to be brave exceptions.
Thanks for the opinion. But what was it other than vague praise and vague condemnation?
The claim that what Mayor Kawakami has done to Kauai is a net positive is highly debatable. Putting blinders on and making executive decisions with “stopping the virus” as highest priority is not exactly a “high IQ” approach. And just because Oahu had as a different outcome that makes Kauai’s approach good? Please. What are the unintended consequences of this pandemic response are coming to light that are biting us all, and what is still in store?
My opinion is that the 9 pm curfew had the most significant effect on Kauai’s outcome.
Now, on Kauai, when I see people at the beach or in social gatherings they behave like the people on Oahu. No masks or social distancing.
Always better lucky than smart.
Good letter Phyllis Albert. Our county is doing better than the state in keeping our cases low. Partly because we have fewer humans. The virus will not spread without people. That makes Oahu much more susceptible sadly for them. A big thanks to Mayor Kawakami and team for making the hard choices which has helped us as much as our lower population.
I do remain worried about our children returning to school and their close proximity to each other even with planned distancing.
” Let’s emerge as the entity that actually did learn from experiences and failures elsewhere.”
You mean…like Sweden? They did not lock-down and kill their economy like the panic stricken politicians did here and on the mainland. Yet, their case and mortality rates are virtually the same (in some cases better) than the countries and states that locked down and trashed peoples livelihood and…liberty.
What makes any sentient being with any rational ability to think critically, think that hiding and isolating will make it all better. All that lock downs and stay at home tyranny was postpone the inevitable. That is the Corona virus, like all viruses, doesn’t pack its bags and go away…it will run its course, no matter what the politicians and sheep do. The virus has infected at least 1% of the population so there is simply no way that it can be stopped from spreading.
If you are older and/or of ill health (obese, have diabetes, cardiovascular problems, susceptible to pneumonia, etc.) then take any and all precautions you must to protect YOURSELF…but why punish the 99.98% of people who will NOT die from being infected or who will never become infected?
All Ige, Kawakami and the other mayors have done is temporarily alter the course of infection and, in so doing, destroy the economy and livelihood of those least able to weather the economic storm .
RG DeSoto
Pure BS, again. Repeating the lies about Sweden doesn’t make them true. Show your citations so we can correct them.
Sweden had a “voluntary” lockdown, which worked for about 40% of the people. That helped, but was greatly undermined by those who did not. The deaths due to Covid 19 in Sweden are about 57 per 100k citizens, compared to 50 in the USA. But if you compare them to their neighboring countries, Norway was 5 and Denmark was 11. So tell us again how not locking down was better?
“What makes any sentient being with any rational ability to think critically, think that hiding and isolating will make it all better”
Well, let’s see… The virus couldn’t spread then?
Burn! Awesome rebuttal, RU!