It is extremely difficult to understand why Hawaii’s people are not taking COVID-19 seriously. Evidence shows this virus is not a hoax. It kills people of all ages. Once you get it, your choice is either dying or, if you survive, living with heart, lung or cognitive issues.

Will it take more seniors, young people, children and babies dying to make everyone responsible? The younger generation is not completely informed of the dangers of COVID-19. Many do not keep up with the latest. They are busy on cell phones and gathering with friends.

I recommend using the extreme weather alert cell phone system. Show daily cases and deaths, and announce enforcement of rules for masks, social distancing and gatherings, to stop spreading the virus. If not enforced, the economy will never open 100%. All people must participate to stop COVID-19.

Dora S. Johnson

McCully

Fighting coronavirus is our patriotic duty

Whatever happened to patriotism?

Our country is fighting a global war with a deadly enemy. We’ve already lost about half as many Americans as died for our country in World War II, the last global war. In WWII, women worked in factories so men could fight on the front. Even us kids went door to door collecting cans and paper to aid the war effort.

Today some of the biggest flag- huggers won’t even wear a mask. Hey, folks! Rosie the Riveter would have worn a mask.

Jerry Dupont

Kaneohe

Our health and safety must be the top priority

First, a big mahalo to the Star-Advertiser for keeping Hawaii informed about the most current situations here in Hawaii. I believe we can only judge the validity of what is being written locally, as residents see first-hand what is really happening here in Hawaii. It’s difficult to believe what is really happening nationally because of the abundance of information or misinformation being shared on social media.

We just need to focus on what we can control locally to get through this pandemic by helping and caring for our family and the larger ohana of all Hawaii people. Local government will never make the right decisions to satisfy everyone’s concerns, but decisions will need to be made regardless. I believe the priority should be to save lives. Everyone needs to just follow the simple tasks of wearing masks, social distancing and practicing proper hygiene. Is this asking too much?

Alvin Tanaka

Mililani

City unfair to close Oahu bowling alleys

Pali Lanes called the Honolulu COVID-19 hotline at 768-CITY.

When asked why gyms can stay open but bowling alleys cannot, this is what the city said: In gyms you go by yourself. There are no group classes and personal trainers. And you wear your mask while at the gym. In bowling alleys, you go as a group and social distancing isn’t practiced.

The city seemed to imply that masks aren’t worn in bowling alleys.

We said: Since reopening, all bowling alleys have implemented stricter guidelines based on what the city and state said. There is more cleaning, masks are worn, and we do whatever we can to practice social distancing. We also mentioned that there are clusters of infections from gyms, but not bowling alleys.

We then asked: Prior to making this decision to close bowling alleys, did an inspector go out and inspect at least one public bowling alley?

The response: No.

Christian Arakawa

Kailua

Graphs should show more than new cases

The graph you publish regularly on the new coronavirus cases is very misleading and probably is causing fear in the community.

Your graphs do not compare the new cases to anything, and you use the number of new cases as the high value in the graph. If you want the graph to be meaningful, I would suggest using a graph that compares the number of cases to both the number of tests performed and the number of active cases, and possibly include the number of hospitalizations.

These comparisons would show a much different picture than the one you are presenting. It also would be useful if you related these different numbers of the local population to show that the percentages of active cases, etc., versus the population are very small.

Rob Rietow

Nuuanu

Raise the GET to get state through crisis

If the state general excise tax can be increased by 0.5% to help fund the $9 billion rail project, why can’t we raise it to support our state’s debts and underfunded needs? A small increase can help fund COVID-19 expenses, including unemployment and pay for essential workers and educators, social services, health care, our education system and much more.

Most important, the GET does not discriminate and cannot be circumvented, unlike other taxes and fees. We’ve boasted about our low GET for decades, yet we outgrew and outspent it many years ago. An increase in the GET would help all members of the community and do so fairly.

The Weir Ohana (William, Juana, and Kaha)

Hawaii Kai

Economics is science, not a political tool

I want to compliment Micah Hicks for his wonderful commentary on the problems of economic diversification (“Diversifying Hawaii economy is tough in a free-market world,” Star- Advertiser, Island Voices, Aug. 6).

The real problem, though, is the almost total lack of understanding among our citizenry of how markets operate. It is because of this economic ignorance that intelligent analysis, such as presented in Hicks’ column, is so seldom heard by those seeking office. Instead, pandering to the idea that the government can wave some magic wand and create a strong economy by fiat, is what seems to sell here.

I hope young Mr. Hicks will continue to be involved in this discussion. For me, as a libertarian, it often feels very lonely being the only person in the room who sees economics as a science to be understood, rather than a set of political fallacies and wishful thinking.

Tracy Ryan

Chair, The Libertarian Party of Hawaii

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