Tom, I have yet to see anything that states that the closure of the beaches was directly in response to the spread of COVID on beaches.
I do know that our county Ocean Safety personnel are part of our emergency response staff within the Fire Department & that Dept. has been asked to assist with other COVID related needs, including hospital staffing on island. Added to that was the drastic reduction in the Ocean Safety budget last year... & you can see that something might have to give...
I also know that at this point, our hospitals are nearly full & reducing the number of ocean related emergencies might help the hospitals.
State-wide, 2020 had only 16 drownings (11 from Jan-Mar), compared to 56 in 2019.... if other Ocean Safety emergencies are reduced in a comparable manner, it does not take advanced math to see that closing beaches & discouraging tourists at beaches might reduce emergency calls that end up in our very crowded hospitals....
https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/04/as-tou...the-ocean/
& this upcoming week is Beach Safety Week.... For those that need a reminder that our beaches are not ʻrisk-freeʻ
https://health.hawaii.gov/news/newsroom/...aug-22-28/
I do know that our county Ocean Safety personnel are part of our emergency response staff within the Fire Department & that Dept. has been asked to assist with other COVID related needs, including hospital staffing on island. Added to that was the drastic reduction in the Ocean Safety budget last year... & you can see that something might have to give...
I also know that at this point, our hospitals are nearly full & reducing the number of ocean related emergencies might help the hospitals.
State-wide, 2020 had only 16 drownings (11 from Jan-Mar), compared to 56 in 2019.... if other Ocean Safety emergencies are reduced in a comparable manner, it does not take advanced math to see that closing beaches & discouraging tourists at beaches might reduce emergency calls that end up in our very crowded hospitals....
https://www.civilbeat.org/2021/04/as-tou...the-ocean/
& this upcoming week is Beach Safety Week.... For those that need a reminder that our beaches are not ʻrisk-freeʻ
https://health.hawaii.gov/news/newsroom/...aug-22-28/