I’ve been communicating with Hawai’i State Representative Amy Perruso as she continues heroic efforts to feed our hungry children using Department of Education (DOE) facilities and resources. Unfortunately, Americans are not prepared for The Third World War.
UPDATE 3.28: New York Times cites a study of strategies used during 2003 SARS outbreak that found washing hands 10 times a day was 55% effective in stopping transmission — but wearing a mask was more effective at around 68%.
UPDATE 3.30: StarAdvertiser reported ten more public school locations will start distributing free grab-and-go meals for public school students over the next week. “We’re capable of beating this,” Lt. Gov Josh Green said. “The best thing you can do to save the lives of our kupuna is to please stay at home until April 30. Only go out if you absolutely need to. (Then) we will be able to get out of this alive.”
As we can see in the picture, families are not staying home. Hundreds trek once or twice each day to get free food. There’s no social distancing, none are wearing masks, and all keiki are highly-exposed to possible SARS-CoV-2 infection, which they can take back to their homes, families and kupuna. DOE protocols are broken and endangering our ‘Ohana. This is Hawaii’s education system. One of the worst in the nation.
Pretty stupid, isn’t it? If people know there’s an outbreak in Kaimuki, for example, they can take additional precautions. Government officials can’t beat their way out of a wet paper bag. Can someone please throw ’em in the volcano?
Starting Monday, Ka’ala Elementary and Kipapa Elementary on Oahu and Lokelani Elementary on Maui will serve free breakfast and lunch to kids 18 and under, bringing the number of school sites serving free meals to kids to 41 from 38. This is extremely dangerous in our current SARS-CoV-2 pandemic crisis.
Officials in Hawai’i are not as advanced in public health as many experts on mainland. Part of the charm about island paradise is it seems we have stepped back in time a bit. Not cool when dealing with a 21st century threat.
More importantly, America’s top experts on mainland are not as competent as officials in most Asian nations. This leaves Hawai’i two steps behind. As of March 26th, the USA became the world leader in infections.
“The big mistake in the US and Europe, in my opinion, is that people aren’t wearing masks.”
Gao Fu, director general, Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention
Due to criminally-incompetent bureaucrats and elected officials, high-density population NYC leads all American cities with about 50,000 infections. Here’s the statistics.
- U.S. – over 250 cases per million people
- China – 57 cases per million people
- Hong Kong – 60 cases per million people
- Taiwan – 11 cases per million people
- Singapore – 117 cases per million people
- Japan – 11 cases per million people
- Korea – 180 cases per million people
Under the direction of the CDC, the U.S. routinely kills 20,000 – 80,000 from common influenza. Our national protections against infectious disease is stone age!
I’ve been warning our hard-working local elected official for weeks. USA protections are inadequate. New global statistics support my claim that national experts are “fighting the last war.” Rep. Perruso said she was comfortable with the program, as the DOE was following CDC protocols in her opinion. This left me in tears. The blind are following the blind and our keiki suffer the collective incompetence.
Yesterday, an article featured in local media provided the proof I needed. Suevon Lee, writing in CivilBeat, captured the effort to feed families. From the article, look at this picture:
This is NOT social distancing. COVID19 travels on Ha — the Hawaiian word for breath. The dedicated staff member likely has a big heart, but she just put that family at risk. She and other staff are reaching out to touch and feed thousands of families.
Americans do not like wearing masks. Even CDC “experts” send mixed messages. Asian nations are far ahead of us.
On the first day of service last Monday, Suevon reported the DOE distributed roughly 3,000 meals statewide. By Day 2, that number doubled, and by the end of this week, DOE officials predicted they would distribute well up to 10,000 meals — and possibly, 10,000 infections. Deadly and Dangerous DOE!
COVID19 is novel … the virus infects people and has a lengthy incubation period to illness (if symptomatic at all). These employees could be infectious. Many won’t know. Family members in the car do not know if staff are infectious or not. More importantly, they trust they system. We see the young child leaning out to greet the woman. This is a deadly scenario.
This is how the state’s experts manage this emergency. They are unprepared and fighting the last war. They are channeling needy families to a central location, handing them food, and sending them home to infect other family members. COVID19 with love and aloha!
Is this the BEST we can do for our most vulnerable families? I’m a public health expert. I’ve been outspoken previously about backward policies and unscientific medical behavior. Look at the nations that are successful. They MASK their population, because COVID19 travels in the air.
Think of it this way. COVID19 is like having SEX with every person you meet. Would you use a condom under the conditions? Same with face masks.
PROTECT because WE CANNOT DETECT
SARS-CoV-2 remains airborne for about three hours. It lasts on surfaces sometimes for days. Wearing a mask protects you; it also protects those you meet. You don’t know who is infected. You can be infected, become infectious without knowing and infect others. Therefore, wear a mask around people. Stay back about 6-10 ft from others. The virus travels on moisture droplets when we speak, sneeze or cough. Stay home as much as possible.
UPDATE 3.28: Current 6 foot social (physical) distancing rule not enough. Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests the gap should be four times bigger at around 26 feet.
A virus is like a seed. It must be implanted in a host to grow. Most of us breathe COVID19 into our nose, mouth and lungs. This is why masking is effective. These seeds also collect under our fingernails. Don’t pick your nose or ears. If you have a runny nose, don’t sniff. You might lodge the virus further inside your body. Blow it out. Sweat can cause the virus to drip into eyes. One could wear a headband to stop dripping sweat.
Virus seeds lodge in hair. Shaking/brushing hair indoors causes seeds to be airborne. Women should keep hair up and tight now. Wash hair whenever possible. Virus seeds lodge on clothes. Do not shake out clothes indoors. Wash everything in HOT water — above 80 degrees.
COVID19 has a coating made of fat. Fat remains firm in cold, dark, slightly moist locations. COVID19 loves AC. Preserves it. Sunlight is a good disinfectant. Warm, dry weather about 80 degrees helps deteriorate seeds. SARS-CoV-2 disintegrates best with simple soap & water — but you need bubbles to break down the fat coating.
Remember, as COVID19 is novel — meaning none of us have natural immunity — ONE individual can in theory lead to the infection of 59,000 human beings! Such an outbreak isn’t likely in rural areas, small towns or less population-dense areas. Could occur in a location like Waikiki or New York City. It just takes one Patient Zero, as they’ve now identified in Wuhan, China.
#MaskUp for our MOST vulnerable — if you love them! Keep your physical distance. We can still be social using video conferencing, FaceTime, Skype, Zoom and others. Let’s take a national Spring Break. Rather than having government try feed our children at this time, offer temporary WIC-type benefits and ask parents to cook meals and feed their children.
Let’s appreciate our simple, charming and quaint life in the islands. Let’s not let down those who trust and depend on us. Be sure to Thank God, Mahalo ke Akua for COVID19.
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Ko’olau of Kaua’i. I am the Defiant One
“I Believe We Can”
ClearHealthLife Strategies 
Aloha. I wanted to share that the photo of the individual passing out food was not taken at a HIDOE grab-and-go site. The image, which was pulled from a March 25 Civil Beat story, is captioned, “A volunteer helps pass out free lunch at the Nuuanu YMCA through a community partnership.”
Appreciate you letting us know. Please send us a current picture showing your staff properly masked and social distancing as they pass out free food. We hope ALL your staff are wearing masks — for their safety and that of the families they serve. Here’s latest research:
New York Times cites a study of strategies used during the 2003 SARS outbreak that found washing hands 10 times a day was 55 percent effective in stopping transmission. But wearing a mask was MORE EFFECTIVE at around 68 percent.
#MaskUp at all times when outside the home
MIT … 6′ social distancing not enough. Massachusetts Institute of Technology suggests the gap should be four times bigger at around 26 feet.
PROTECT … WE CANNOT DETECT who is infectious.
Nice one