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

[My 2 cents]

But he hasn't retired yet, so these kinds of decisions are still being made....

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

East Hawaii COVID cases continue to rise:

Hilo: Over 150
Keaau: 51-150
Pahoa: 26-50

https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/Ud5V2/29/

[1voyager1]

This afternoon, per BVN, the Hawaiian DOH is saying that big Island now has 227 active cases of Covid-19, with Hilo being the local hot spot.
The numbers have grown rapidly through the last month or so, with the numbers quickly growing larger each day.

This has a very long ways to go before it will ever come under any semblance of control.
The state and county are all but useless as they've proven themselves to be in their past "protective" efforts.
They are motivated by self interests expressed by vocal people, and doing as little as they can while trying to look like they might be doing something effective, even if not.

You can list any of the popular squawks about testing, contact control, and so on, but this will never come under any kind of control before nearly everyone has or has had it, as long as the general population continues to act as they are doing.

Even then, there are reports of people being reinfected, some with even worse cases the second time around.
Supposedly, the antibodies produced by an infected person may only last a few months.
That is very possible because there are similar reactions to other diseases.

I have cut back on my local traveling around for shopping and other things.
But, as I do travel around, I see many things that confirm that this is not going away soon.
Educated guesses are from months to years.


In Hilo, Pahoa and elsewhere, the only places I see masks being worn are Dr. offices or stores with signage requiring them. Elsewhere, all I see are people walking around, passing by and talking to each other taking no protective measures at all.
Even then, many don't have the faintest idea of how to properly wear a mask, or even what is an effective mask.

The main problem is people.
The young have the built in conviction that they are immortal, immune to anything they don't want to deal with or that could harm them, with no concern for anyone their actions may be putting at risk.

That is similar to what motivates most "adults".
Although, I tend to just call it not wanting to deal with the inconvenience and restrictions.
They'd rather act as if life is still going on as it always has.

I am not really very worried.
I am healthy, and have always been resistant to infections.
I worry more about my gal-friend. Although, she is also healthy and should be resistant.

I do have concerns for those who have complicating conditions.
They are the ones most at risk.
Although, reports are that serious conditions are becoming more common in younger people. 

I am waiting for an effective vaccine to come out.
But, I don't think it'll be very soon.
Past history has shown it to take about two years to produce and distribute anything  effective.
That would be about the end of next year or later.
Now they look to be in a hurry to get something [anything] out as soon as possible, effective, safe or not.
There is a history of ineffective or dangerous drugs being produced in pushed processes cutting trials short.
It sounds as if the state or county of Hawaii is running it.

Could go on, but am getting tired of it, so will stop here.

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

Is there anyone left running the show?  Now Sarah “you’re on your own”* Park is taking a leave of absence.  Here are the top COVID-19 officials in Hawaii stepping down or stepping back from their job recently:

State Epidemiologist Sarah Park is on a leave of absence from her position directing the state’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, Department of Health officials said late Thursday. The leave is effective Friday, DOH spokeswoman Janice Okubo said.
Park’s departure comes just a day after Emily Roberson, who had been hired to take over the beleaguered contact tracing program from Park, said she was going on leave, citing frustration with DOH leadership issues.
Earlier this week, Gov. David Ige said Health Director Bruce Anderson, Park’s boss, would be retiring in mid-September.

* during the Dengue Fever outbreak on Big Island some years ago, Sarah Park suggested we shouldn’t look for outside help, we were on our own

[Or1on]

This isn't Hawaii based but I found this to be very interesting and informative about the corona virus/ covid 19 and might become a breakthrough in understanding this new strange disease.  

Also I was surprised that the supercomputer took so long to crunch the data in this day and age of technology. 

https://elemental.medium.com/a-supercomp...cb8eba9d63

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

No wonder we can't have low COVID-19 infection rates. I don't think the 100+ people at this Wailuku River gathering were there to thoroughly wash their hands for 20 seconds.  On the plus side, Kai Kahele wasn't said to be in attendance, and since his last maskless closeup-and-personal at a "funeral" he has publicly stated Hawaii Island residents should wear masks and social distance:

The Hawaiʻi Department of Land and Natural Resources says last weekend, an estimated 100 people gathered at the J7 ranch to get in streams and waterfalls above the ranch, which led to the prompt closure and law enforcement action.
https://www.bigislandvideonews.com/2020/...atherings/

[HereOnThePrimalEdge]

More on Dr. Sarah Park, Hawaii Department of Health’s Chief Epidemiologist.  She is officially taking a PAID leave of absence, but Tulsi Gabbard says it’s a departure:

Dr. Park’s Departure Provides Cautious Optimism for Department of Health Action

“I’m cautiously optimistic that this change will provide new leaders within the Department of Health an opportunity to step up and fix the truly fatal flaws the people of Hawai‘i have suffered from under Drs. Anderson’s and Park’s tenures.
 
“The public trust has been broken. New leaders in the Department of Health have the opportunity to begin to rebuild that trust by hiring and building a robust testing and tracing operation, and providing transparency to the people about the progress that’s being made. 
https://gabbard.house.gov/news/press-rel...department

[ChunksterK]

According to HNN, even Harry Kim now thinks we may need more drastic measures soon to control the virus on the Big Island:

https://www.hawaiinewsnow.com/2020/09/04...dont-drop/

The richest bit of the article is this:

“It’s a step in the right direction, but it’s probably not enough,” said state Sen. Kai Kahele of Hilo. “I think Mayor Harry Kim should look at the examples being set by Mayor Caldwell and other mayors. We need to get the surge of COVID-19 cases under control on Hawaii island."

Isn't this the same panderer who was recently seen at a large memorial gathering for a Hawaiian music figure where there were almost no masks and very little social distancing? And Caldwell is not exactly a paragon of Covid-19 virtue. Kahele is just another hypocrite politician, and a brazen one at that.

[TomK]

I really wish Hawaii had more journalists with guts. Some of our politicians might have second thoughts about the nonsense and hypocrisy they spout if that were the case. I think back to my days in the UK when a bloke called Jeremy Paxman presented a late-night news show and he was merciless, apparently politicians really feared being interviewed by him. I think he's still going, maybe we can get him over here for a bit.

https://youtu.be/0_z3FUjCVVA

Lots more on youtube if you want to look him up.

[Durian Fiend]

There's finally a state dashboard, something most states have had for many months already. https://hawaiicovid19.com/dashboard/