Hawaii has become the latest case study of how fleeting success can be in controlling the coronavirus.

After daily COVID-19 cases reached the then-alarming 40s in March, Gov. David Ige essentially shut down the state, imposing a 14-day quarantine on interisland and overseas airline arrivals, closing schools and nonessential businesses, and placing stay-at-home/work-at-home restrictions on residents.

It was economically punishing, as tourism and many other business ground to a virtual halt, but succeeded in getting COVID-19 under control; new daily cases averaged fewer than five by June.

Now, after partially lifting restrictions, COVID cases on Oahu are hitting daily records five times as high as when we originally shut down in March and hospitals fear they’ll soon be overwhelmed.

Ige has reimposed the 14-day quarantine on interisland air travel and he and Mayor Kirk Caldwell are closing state and city parks and beaches once again, along with businesses such as bars, bowling alleys, arcades and tennis clubs.

It’s difficult to imagine easing the 14-day quarantine on overseas travel by Sept. 1 to allow for the reopening of tourism.

It’s frustrating that the painful sacrifices we’ve made since March seemed to have gone for naught, but redoubling efforts to contain this deadly virus are unavoidable; the important thing is to learn from mistakes we made the first time and devote ourselves to getting it right now.

It’s also important to remember that the primary bad actor here is not each other, but a tenacious virus that thrives on our divisions.

Getting it right this time means ending the pointless bickering over wearing face masks, social distancing and avoiding large gatherings. We need to just do it.

It’s appropriate that the new face of compliance isn’t only friendly celebrities, but a stern-faced Police Chief Susan Ballard and her force of 160 officers who will enforce the rules 24/7 with citations and arrests more than warnings.

Beyond badgering the public, the state must acknowledge a primary reason places like New York, Germany and South Korea have succeeded in controlling the virus while we have failed: aggressive programs for testing, contact tracing and isolation of those who test positive.

Our state Health Department has from the start resisted robust testing and contact tracing, resulting in inadequate testing resources and only a fourth of the active contact tracers that credible medical authorities say we need.

Health Director Bruce Anderson and state epidemiologist Dr. Sarah Park are plain wrong in downplaying this critical weapon that needs to be securely in place before we can think about further attempts at reopening.

If they won’t fully embrace this urgent task, Ige must move them out of the way.

Reach David Shapiro at volcanicash@gmail.com.