Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced today that May 16 is Hawaii Nurses Association Day.

During a press briefing, Caldwell said his inspiration for the proclamation came from three nurses in their scrubs who held signs at the state Capitol on May 1 to counter-protest hundreds of people demanding that Hawaii’s economy reopen.

In response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Hawaii, Gov. David Ige on March 25 made a emergency proclamation ordering residents to stay and work at home and nonessential businesses to close. Ige said he plans to extend his “safer-at-home” order until June 30.

“When folks showed up to want to see our economy and our state open up more quickly, we saw courage in action from three individuals who said, ‘We believe in free speech, too, and we want to tell our side of the story,’” Caldwell said.

Caldwell allowed retail stores to open Friday and has given the public the OK to sit and lie at Oahu beaches — both with social distancing measures in place — but extended the city and county’s “safer-at-home” order until June 30.

The three nurses, who work at Queen’s Medical Center, were with Caldwell during today’s press briefing.

Joan Craft, treasurer for HNA and a registered nurse for over 25 years, was in tears while saying other “essential” employees should also receive recognition.

“I want to thank all the other people, too — respiratory therapists, dietitians, housekeepers, people at grocery stores. I know when I go to the grocery store and I look at them in the eye, especially when this first started, they were afraid,” she said. “We appreciate being recognized, but we need to recognize everybody who was out on the front line.”

Caldwell noted a warning from Anthony Fauci, a physician and member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force, saying Fauci “has warned repeatedly in the past couple weeks, and very strongly this week before Congress, that rushing to open up … could reverse the months of work by the nurses I just described and many others. … We do not want to waste their sacrifice.”

Daniel Ross, president of Hawaii Nurses Association and one of the three nurses at Caldwell’s briefing, agreed with a slow opening of the economy.

“We support the mayor’s efforts to open up in a safe and sane way,” he said. “We feel for those who are not having income at this time, and we know it’s a tough time for everybody, but opening up too quickly is a very dangerous thing.”

Registered nurse Paula Gallagher was identified as the third nurse at the Capitol in the Star-Advertiser’s May 1 story.