Letters: Thankful for Hawaii’s medical first responders; Suspending program a knee-jerk reaction; Ready for Biden to put country back together

At a rapidly advancing age where I have had to make increased use of their services, I am grateful for the emergency medical technicians who staff the ambulances supporting the residents of Oahu. While undercompensated, they are intelligent, educated, well trained and filled with the aloha spirit.

Thanks also to the firefighters, who often arrive ahead of the ambulance to provide first aid, as well as the drivers of Oahu, who, upon hearing a siren, safely and swiftly pull aside, like the parting of the Red Sea, allowing the ambulance clear passage to the nearest emergency room.

Lucky we live Hawaii. Mahalo nui loa.

John Priolo

Pearl City

It’s time to be smarter about COVID tests

It doesn’t matter if Hawaii has run 275,000-plus COVID-19 tests and less than 3% have been positive. Tourists coming now can be infected and incubating the virus on the way over here after testing negative.

Remember in March and April, the public was told there would be adequate contact tracing, only to find out months later from a whistleblower that this was not the case at all.

It’s time to be more careful. A second COVID-19 test is absolutely needed if we are going to keep the islands at what is considered a low level of infection. And what about going out of our way to test various homeless areas?

Matthew Bernstein

Waianae

Change in travel policy confounding, farcical

Gov. David Ige’s policy requiring travelers from the mainland to have negative COVID-19 test results before departure to Hawaii, or face a 14-day mandatory quarantine, is confounding and farcical.

He punishes travelers for the inability of Hawaii’s chosen trusted partners to deliver results within 72 hours.

It is a Catch-22. On a recent trip, my wife’s results arrived while we were in the air from the mainland. But if her test had been administered any earlier she would have exceeded the 72-hour limit. Statistics show that travelers are not a significant cause of COVID-19 cases in Hawaii. If, as reported, the state does not have the resources to manually enter results reported after arrival, the state should hire laid-off workers to do this and charge the traveler a fair fee for the service.

It is reported that Hawaii has the nation’s worst economy, yet it has repeatedly discouraged travelers who could help. Travelers have options and flying here is now a crap shoot.

Gil Fegley

Burke, Va.

Suspending program a knee-jerk reaction

The Honolulu Police Department’s recent decision to suspend the COVID-19 enforcement team due to violations of staffing guidelines is a typical knee-jerk reaction very common in organizations (“Honolulu Police Department suspends use of COVID enforcement team after overtime violations,” Star-Advertiser, Nov. 21).

Often due to lack of management oversight, violations occur. Rather than address and take steps to correct the violations, the organization often suspends or shuts down the operation.

But based on recent reports that nearly 98% of citations have been thrown out, it is a good thing the program was shut down — but not for the right reasons.

Cyrus Siu

Kaunakakai, Molokai

Nothing corrupt about Trump’s election appeal

I take issue with David Shapiro’s call for the GOP to accept that President Donald Trump lost and move on — specifically his assertion that, at this point, Trump “could succeed only by corrupt means” (“Time for the GOP to accept that Trump lost and move on,” Star-Advertiser, Volcanic Ash, Nov. 22).

So, following the appeals process is corrupt? I don’t know if the scale of election fraud my lying eyes detect is real or provable. Those who claim fraud have to prove it in court and also that the election results as reported are affected.

What is corrupt is to claim that this constitutional process doesn’t apply because Trump has an ego. If Joe Biden won a free and fair election, so be it. If the opposite is true, Trump wins reelection. The only “breakdown of our constitutional process” will occur if a fraudulent election is tolerated.

Frank Jensen

Aiea

Ready for Biden to put country back together

Joe Biden has become the Six Million Vote Man, now that he has beaten Donald Trump by better than that many votes.

We are more than ready for the leader who can bring the country back together and make it stronger than before. It is an appropriate ending for this dark chapter of history. Brighter days are ahead.

Ernie Saxton

Wahiawa

Political system holds firm under stress tests

President Donald Trump is putting our political system through severe stress tests. A little over a decade ago, the financial system went through the stress tests, and survived.

While Trump’s refusal to cooperate in the executive transition was costly, dangerous and embarrassing for all Americans, the silver lining is that our political system is holding up firmly as it goes through the Trump-inflicted stress tests.

Asdaq Wahid

Aina Haina

EXPRESS YOURSELF

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BEING THANKFUL

2020 has been a whopper of a year: the COVID-19 pandemic, economic hurt, politics and elections. But surely there is much to be thankful for and to appreciate. We want to hear from you.

In the spirit of the season, we are now accepting letters (150 words max) and essays (500-600 words) with uplifting messages to share during this holiday season.

Email to letters@staradvertiser.com; or send to 500 Ala Moana Blvd. #7-210, Honolulu 96813, c/o Letters.