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Every weekend, Hawaii’s football fans can turn on the TV and witness an astonishing sight in the age of COVID-19: stadiums packed with screaming spectators, hardly a mask in sight, respiratory emissions galore. These are not reruns from 2019, but what appear to be the new normal most everywhere — but not here.
Gov. David Ige has been steadfast in his refusal to allow fans to attend University of Hawaii athletic events, which now play to empty hometown bleachers and seats. He has denied requests to allow even a small number of vaccinated, masked and physically distanced friends and family members to cheer on their athletes.
For anyone who goes to the beach or eats in a restaurant, Ige’s cautious-to-a-fault approach may seem irrational. But he has his reasons. Due to the delta variant, the hospital system has been teetering on overload. If Hawaii’s hospitals are overwhelmed, we risk going to rationing — a greater likelihood here than on the mainland, where patients can more easily go a neighboring county or state.
Why risk a superspreader event when it can be avoided? After all, Ige practically shut down the state’s tourism industry under less dire circumstances. And thanks to strict protocols and widespread compliance, Hawaii has had one of the lowest — and often the lowest — rate of COVID-19 cases in the country. What’s a few football games?
No, Ige is not wrong in his concern. But he has room to be more flexible.
A study published in August on JAMA Network Open suggested that certain limited-seating NFL and NCAA football games in 2020 and 2021 did not appear to lead to community COVID-19 spread. Researchers concluded that attending outdoor games in person can be safe, as long as there are strict policies limiting attendance as well as requiring masks and physical distancing — procedures unwisely ignored in many mainland stadiums.
There’s also common-sense messaging. Disappointed UH fans are understandably confused. If we can flock to the beaches unmasked, eat indoors in restaurants unmasked, or walk down crowded Kalakaua Avenue unmasked, why can’t fully vaccinated people, wearing masks, sit in their bubble in the open-air, 9,000-seat Clarence T.C. Ching Field, properly separated from others?
Yes, cheering on the home team is a nice-to-have, not a need-to-have. And we’re not out of the woods yet. But as we slog through another COVID-19 year, weary of navigating a maze of restrictions, sometimes, for the sake of community spirit, a responsible nice-to-have can become a need-to-have. As the burden on hospitals eases, the governor should allow some UH fans in the stands, as soon as possible.
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