Gov. Ige’s indecisiveness shows need to step aside

As our COVID-19 cases turned from the lowest in the nation and mounted into hundreds daily, Gov. David Ige remained in a Hamlet-like mode of indecisiveness.

From one day to the next, he was either silent or hiding behind closed doors while the public waited for him to make a statement. All the time he spent temporizing, occasionally popping out to make some incoherent remarks about how well the state Department of Health was handling the crisis, cases kept spiking. The governor provided only false assurances about testing or contact tracing, or played hide-and-seek with the public until state Senate COVID-19 committee members literally had to pound on his door to demand long-denied transparency on his position.

It turned out Ige has no position —on anything. Hawaii cannot hope to emerge from its dual health and economic crises until our faltering governor steps down, allowing real leadership to take over.

Perle Besserman

Kakaako

Use automated feature to boost contact tracing

Apple and Google offer Exposure Notification, a feature that uses Bluetooth to communicate with other nearby devices. This program can notify participants that they were close to others who tested positive for COVID-19.

Honolulu needs this type of software. The conventional wisdom on COVID-19 contagion has changed radically from the beginning, when it was assumed that infection was transmitted via touching contaminated surfaces. The now-prevalent theory is that infection can occur through breathing in aerosolized viral particles emitted by an infected person.

My memory not what it used to be, I wouldn’t know the names of the strangers I encounter in a supermarket or standing in line to enter Costco.

So, why isn’t Hawaii approving Exposure Notification instead of focusing on contact tracing, which requires an infected person to tell the tracer whom the infected person was close to?

Carol Hong

Hawaii Kai

Reopening tourism in pandemic is reckless

Statistics from the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism show that after beaches reopened on May 16, tourist arrivals from the mainland more than doubled, many from coronavirus hotspots. More than half stayed “with friends and relatives” and one-fifth in hotels.

This time frame strongly suggests that COVID-19 among tourists and quarantine-exempt military ignited community spread. Adequate testing, tracing and transparency would have revealed this.

Reopening tourism during the pandemic is reckless. With current testing missing 3 out of 10 positive cases, pre-departure test-out is a bad idea that will only destroy the protective quarantine, swell infected arrivals, overwhelm hospital capacity and impede access to medical care for local people.

Instead, positive cases should be excluded from boarding, and proof of a negative test should be a prerequisite for disembarking to be bused to a mandatory 14-day enforced quarantine site. Tourism should not take precedence over people’s lives.

Ellen Sofio, M.D.

Manoa

Post-lockdown, open all parks’ public parking

The commentary by Shiyana Thenabadu makes valid points (“Locals blocked from beaches while resort bubbles mulled,” Star-Advertiser, Island Voices, Sept. 3). We understand how serious the COVID-19 pandemic is and how infections and deaths have spiked — but a balanced parking program is needed.

Is it asking too much that after the lockdown is pau, the public parking lots at Ko Olina and those run by the city Department of Parks and Recreation, mauka and makai, reopen? Police can continue to monitor for crowd-size violations.

All Hawaii’s people deserve the freedom to access beaches. Even if sitting on the beaches or congregating in the trail-head parking lots is prohibited, common sense and good faith demands equal access to our recreational areas. Open the parking lots!

John and Rita Shockley

Makakilo

Vote early to avoid mail or polling problems

This election is crucial!

Please pledge to vote early to avoid any problem or long lines at a polling place. If you receive a ballot at home, please take it to the post office or place it in a collection box.

It is SO important. Our vote is our voice and our power.

Liz Nelson

Kaneohe

Retirement, leaves show state’s unaccountability

So this is how the state handles accountability: Bruce Anderson, who was responsible for the job of overseeing the coronavirus crisis, gets to retire, collect his high-three pension and walk off into the sunset.

Sarah Park, who was responsible for doing her job, gets to go on paid leave, which basically means she still gets paid but doesn’t have to do the job anymore.

Emily Roberson, who was picked to do the job of overseeing contact tracing, voluntarily goes on leave, deciding she doesn’t want to do the job for now.

Everyone’s getting paid by taxpayers, but no one’s doing the job. It sounds like Gov. David Ige not only has a problem with handling accountability, but also with handling non- accountability. The next thing you know, he’ll be handing out $250,000 Louis Kealoha-style bonuses.

Steve Dang

Kaimuki

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