UPDATE 10.29.2020: More documented evidence Lt Governor Josh Green’s pre-test program is unreliable and dangerous. Kauai health officials yesterday reported a new positive case of C19 from an adult, female visitor who is now in isolation. The woman tested negative as part of the state’s pre-travel testing program; then tested negative in a voluntary post-travel test. She reported symptoms consistent with C19 and tested positive days later.
“This case shows us travelers who become infected near or after the pre-travel test may not test positive for several days after their arrival. For best results, the preferable time to take a post-travel test would be about a week after arrival. We also understand people may not be on island that long and in those cases, a test three days after arrival is encouraged.”
Dr. Janet Berreman, Kauai District Health Officer
UPDATE 10.26.2020: We warned Lt Governor Josh Green’s pre-test program is unreliably dangerous. Yesterday, Kaua’i County officials announced a resident tested positive for C19 after taking a post-travel test. The adult male resident recently returned from the mainland and received a quarantine exemption by testing negative prior to flying to the island, but tested positive after voluntary taking the county’s post-travel test.
By most measures, the small nation of New Zealand, guided by popular and highly-respected female prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, is leading the world clamping down the spread of C19. About two weeks ago, New Zealand reported they had completely and successfully stamped out the virus across their country for the second time.
SEE Comparing USA COVID19 Deaths to World Performance
Yet October 21st, New Zealand officials reported 25 new C19 cases: 23 are cases at the border and two are related to the port worker disclosed Sunday. Alarmingly, one case is the result of a brief, three (3) minute encounter. [source] The day before some 11 infectious cases were confirmed at a managed isolation facility in Christchurch, with another 14 possible cases being investigated. [source]
The first case was previously considered a casual contact of the port worker and had a very short exposure to the worker — about three minutes in the same room as them.
Director-General of Health Dr Ashley Bloomfield
The new infections are related to a fishing vessel that had just arrived in port. Crew members were tested the previous Friday as part of the routine testing at the port and all returned a negative test. Dr. Bloomfield reported members of the crew developed symptoms on Monday, took a test, and now returned a positive result.
In addition, a second cluster of infections originated with a chartered flight from Moscow that stopped over in Singapore carrying Russian and Ukrainian fishing crew members. All had tests undertaken before the flight took off, which involved the nasal swab process. This is considered the most reliable of testing protocols.
New Zealand doesn’t rely simply on pre-departure testing. Although new arrivals must pre-test, the health ministry follows more rigorous guidelines: requiring Day 3 and Day 12 testing when people are in managed isolation facilities.
New Zealand is Rigorous. Hawai’i is a Deadly Joke
New Zealand has been a world leader and their prime minister is well-loved and respected, while a public opinion survey released today shows Hawai’i residents do not feel the same about our officials. Only 30% of O’ahu voters approved of Governor David Ige’s C19 response, while 57% disapproved, and 13% were undecided.
Island families have suffered the governor’s dysfunctional Department of Health. Director Bruce Anderson resigned in disgrace. Ige’s state epidemiologist, Sarah Park, lied to officials and the public about the critical contact tracing program. The Department of Labor and Industrial Relations has been unable to support people who lost employment. Ige’s team has failed to dispense some $100 million in rent relief for over 11,000 struggling families threatened with eviction.
In this crisis, Lt Governor Josh Green is so unconcerned about suffering people he works part-time in a hospital. Doesn’t even focus all his attention on the pandemic. Hundreds of people are dead now due to the corruption and incompetence of Ige and Green.
New Zealand, with four times the population of Hawai’i, has lost 25 people to the disease. Hawai’i lists 188 as of today. Number don’t lie. Hawaii’s government is a joke.
Now, Governor Ige and Lt Governor relax protocols for tens of thousands of daily arriving tourists. Passengers who pass a pre-flight test up to 72-hours prior to arrival are exempt from quarantine mandates. Virus incubation periods range from 2-14 days — not 72 hours. Many pre-tests are unreliable. SEE Aloha Challenge: Come to Hawaii and Kill a Local
Lt Governor Green has already made many exceptions. Lines for departure and arrival have been dangerously long, which can lead to infectious spread; protocols are confused and contradictory; and nobody seems to be in charge. In the military, they call this a Charlie Foxtrot — which stands for Cluster Fuck.
In Hong Kong, for example, health officials rely on meticulously testing — and tracking — of all passengers who land in the city. “They test everybody by PCR on arrival, quarantine them in single rooms for 14 days, and then test the passengers again,” says infectious disease doctor David O. Freedman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
On one Emirates flight, some 27 coronavirus-positive people boarded the plane in Dubai for the eight-hour flight. This led to two known in-flight transmissions, Freedman reported. Other airline research suggests craft cabins are relatively safe — as long as people never take off their face masks to eat or drink; don’t talk with other passengers; don’t use restrooms, touch anything or move about the cabin.
“To me, one of the scariest parts [of flying] is the disembarkation process. Airlines can control people getting onto a plane, but getting off can be chaos because everybody rushes off the plane.”
David O. Freedman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham
How does this work for a family of five with three small children excited to come to Hawai’i Nei?
Planes have decent air ventilation and filtration systems, which remove coronavirus particles from the air about every six minutes, the U.S. Transportation Command documented. On the other hand, New Zealand reported an infection after a three-minute encounter.
“So the only opportunity to breathe the virus in comes from the air that passes by you before it goes through that ventilation system. And so that’s only going to happen if you’re sitting close to the person who’s sick.”
Engineer Linsey Marr at Virginia Tech
For these reasons, Freedman says, he and his wife aren’t flying this year for Thanksgiving. They’re taking Amtrak instead.
Borders Open. Locals Locked Down
At this time, local residents are confined to Tier 1 Lockdown. There are four levels. Tier 4 is the most relaxed. Governor Ige approved the order for O’ahu to move to the less-restrictive Tier 2 of Honolulu’s economic re-opening plan effective Thursday, October 22nd, Mayor Kirk Caldwell reported today.
Most experts wouldn’t introduce 100,000 new arrivals to the islands until local residents have achieved Tier 4 status. Government protocols have been ineffective stamping out the spreading virus. Why introduce 100,000 new variables? There is only one reason: Money!
Officials put Wealth Above Health and signal to all local residents they are expendable. Governor Ige and Lt Governor Josh Green don’t care if you or one of your loved one dies. They care more about hotel profits. They are resort managers, not compassionate leaders like Jacinda Ardern of New Zealand.
Residents have been unable to go to a gym. Beginning tomorrow, exercise facilities will re-open temporarily at 25% capacity. Now public transportation will be crowded. Short-term rentals will again shuffle new people in and out. Restaurants will see increased occupancy. All these activities turn Hawai’i into a playground and put local residents at risk from visitors coming from areas of the nation where the virus is exploding.
Experts warn the next 6 to 12 weeks will be the darkest time of the pandemic. Governors around the nation urge increased caution and restraint. Conversely, Governor Ige and Lt Governor Green say it’s time to open up. Only money can buy such incompetence.
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