Editorial: Waiting for an email and a retest

If the timetable issued in a Monday email is correct, the 1,700-plus clients whose COVID-19 tests were mislabeled should hear by today about re-testing sites and times. Many got them on Tuesday afternoon.

Unfortunately, there was more confusion from a second email that went out earlier, a form letter from contractor eTrueNorth directing them to book an appointment themselves. No, wait for the third email, the city said.

For some, this was a test to measure patience, as well as the coronavirus.

Hawaii Attorney General Clare Connors this week joined a coalition of nearly two dozen attorneys general and others in taking legal action against the Trump administration’s decision to move up the deadline for wrapping up U.S. Census self-response questionnaires, along with door-to-door follow-ups, by a full month — to Sept. 30.

Given the complications touched off by COVID-19, more time is needed, not less. In a written statement, Connors rightly pointed out that the Census is the basis for “many things that fundamentally impact the citizens of our state, including political representation and federal funding allocations.” So residents who have yet to respond, do so at 2020census.gov.