COVID-19 confirmed in Hawaii: 607+ cases 16 deaths

[TomK]

Correct, Chunkster, but it just didn't seem right using the word "Believable"...

[randomq]

It wasn't even a funeral, it was a huge party for fans of a musician who died in Oahu back in May:

“huge gathering of remembrance recently held in East Hawaii” — an apparent reference to a celebration of life on July 25 for Kaulana Pakele, lead singer of the popular band Mana‘o Company.

The Hilo-born entertainer died May 25 at age 47 after apparently drowning at Makaha Beach Park on Oahu’s leeward coast.

Hundreds gathered to honor the Hilo-born entertainer, and social media videos showed few wearing masks and almost no one social distancing. There was a large tent with an entertainment stage and a food-service line. Video showed the food handlers wearing masks.

Among those in attendance was state Sen. Kai Kahele, the Democratic nominee for the 2nd Congressional District U.S. House seat being vacated by Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, who ran unsuccessfully for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Kahele also posed on a video with a group of men, none of them social distancing or wearing masks over their noses and mouths.

Kahele didn’t immediately return a call Monday seeking comment.

Magno and Hawaii Police Chief Paul Ferreira said they didn’t know about the gathering until after the fact.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.hawaiit...ement/amp/

[Durian Fiend]

First two deaths on Hawaii Island with Covid19. Hawaii Island also overtakes Maui in total corvid19 positive  cases.

OK...Hear we go. Thought we might just slide by this pandemic unscathed.  Unfortunately someone had a funeral 2 weeks ago here in Hilo with over 500 attendees with very few masks and several Raves. That's all it takes.

https://www.khon2.com/coronavirus/hawaii...u-35MREDsk

It's amazing how the virus seems to smolder within populations, then leaps at the opportunity to strengthen and spread when large gatherings occur.  
Recently (8/29) it has come up that testing sensitivity in US may be faulty.   As a result, "case numbers" could be misleading.   

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/29/health/coronavirus-testing.html  

Some of the nation’s leading public health experts are raising a new concern in the endless debate over coronavirus testing in the United States: The standard tests are diagnosing huge numbers of people who may be carrying relatively insignificant amounts of the virus.
Most of these people are not likely to be contagious, and identifying them may contribute to bottlenecks that prevent those who are contagious from being found in time.

[ChunksterK]

Finally some change in leadership coming to the Health and Public Safety departments of the state government:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/08/31...-response/

I'm afraid it may be far too late, however, and these two are retiring with hefty pensions at our expense.

[TomK]

And in the meantime, those 1000 botched tests have increased to over 1700.

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/08/3...e-testing/

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

The Atlantic Magazine has a number of where-we-stand-now articles about COVID-19.  I’m not sure if they come under their free COVID resources, but you can also read a number of free articles each month.  The first one on vaccines addresses our lack of a Strategic Monkey Reserve, an idea suggested back in 2018: 

VACCINES
1. Vaccine researchers face a shortage of monkeys for animal testing.
Our staff writer Sarah Zhang—who offered a sobering vaccine reality check in July—reports that there’s both elevated demand for monkeys and a huge drop in supply from China.
TESTING
2. A new era of coronavirus testing is about to begin.
Last week, the FDA authorized a new kind of test, which “holds the tantalizing promise of a pre-vaccine way out of the quagmire,” Alexis C. Madrigal notes.
CONTACT TRACING
3. Contract tracing still isn’t working in the U.S.
It’s the most American COVID-19 failure yet, Olga Khazan argues. She cites three reasons for the lag: There are too many cases. Testing takes too long. And many Americans fear or distrust the government.
MASKS
4. Pulling aside your mask to talk is counterproductive. 
In fact, consider not talking at all: Derek Thompson points out that silence in public spaces could actually be an effective antiviral strategy.

[eightfingers2.0]

3. Contract tracing still isn’t working in the U.S.



What’s that?

[My 2 cents]

If you haven't renewed your Covid Contract you won't be eligible for testing. It's right there in the manual.

Something else that made me laugh, and maybe cry a little bit, was the report that on Oahu they are doing drive-up testing in the H-3 tunnel.

https://www.civilbeat.org/2020/09/hawaii...ng-anyway/

It is predominately a respiratory ailment, so of course you want the tests to be taken in the kind of clean air environment that a tunnel would provide.

[TomK]

Whether using a tunnel was a good idea or not, now we have this:

"Feds spurn COVID-19 testing held on H-3 freeway"

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2020/09/0...3-testing/

I don't know what to say. Unbelievable, believable, or to hell with it and Antarctica looks like a good place to visit right now - as long as it's not via a cruise ship. And what exactly does "spurn" mean in this context? It's not explained in the article. Does it mean the tests don't count (which is a literal interpretation of "spurn") or the state and the feds have divorced, or what?

[ChunksterK]

"I don't know what to say." - TomK

How about stupid? The state is headed toward bankruptcy, and they are risking a huge chunk of money. Oh, and they just gave all the workers a raise. Meanwhile, the governor thinks the disgraced and soon to retire director of the Health Department did a good job.