Originally Posted by
747FC
Thanks for the links. So, the first confirmed case in Hawaii was not a Japanese man. No evidence he was patient Zero.
No, the first case in Hawaii was the Japanese person who stayed in Honolulu at HGV. That was the first time someone was ever COVID+ while in Hawaii in February. I doubt he was "Patient Zero", but we'll probably never know who was...especially with asymptomatic transmission.
Many weeks later, the first Hawaiian resident to be COVID+ was the Oahu cruise passenger.
The point is that this notion that most cases are from tourists that spread or continue to spread disease in Hawaii isn't rooted in any fact or science. Almost all cases, if not all, were state residents traveling back to Hawaii from the mainland...and community spread from there.
Originally Posted by
ExpatExp
I found it unusual as well.
FWIW, on TV the other day, Caldwell said they (I don't remember who, exactly) "got a call from the White House" (exact words) asking what could be done to help. Surprised me to hear those exact words. Could certainly be related to some existing meetings. Who knows.
The White House COVID response team led by Pence saw Hawaii was in deep trouble and mobilized resources to help. Beyond sending in the Surgeon General to lead the response, they sent in experts to help with contract tracing, provided PPE, funded the surge testing program, sent in military doctors, and sent resources to HIEMA to help navigate new ways of doing things: securing hotels to quarantine or shelter people, building a roadmap to build additional healthcare capacity, and sharing ideas for new/different ways of testing, like having community walk-up testing locations or shutting down highways to use to test to avoid traffic gridlocks. The Feds also walked the administration thtough how to take advantage of existing programs and dollars, like the FEMA unemployment benefit that Trump signed his EO on. Beyond the status calls with governors/regions, Pence uses their dashboards to see where focused attention is needed. Sadly, when positivity rates exceeded 10%, it was a given the Feds would intervene and help here.
The Trump administration response hasn't been perfect, but they have been much more competent and strategic than the local response...not to mention far more efficient. If you ask Caldwell or his team, the COVID response this week compared to last week is a like the difference between night/day. Caldwell is relieved some of the pressure is off with federal resources helping out ...especially on the testing/contact tracing route. And Caldwell was upset that the Surgeon General couldn't linger longer, although a lot of his team remains here to help.
With Congress demanding answers and even Schatz publicly questioning Ige, hopefully enough pressure can be applied to state government so that we can eventually reopen to tourism. Unfortunately, due to their missteps, we have a really hellish next month to get through.