Large indoor events on Oahu limited to 50% capacity starting Monday

Indoor events with over 1,000 people on Oahu will be limited to 50% capacity beginning Monday.

Mayor Rick Blangiardi made the announcement on Wednesday in an effort to minimize the spread of COVID-19.

“This disease could peak sometime in January, and where we really are in the call of the day-to-day is use common sense, take personal responsibility,” he said. “We want to govern past this in a broader context because there is a better day ahead.”

That means that if an event wants to host 2,000 people, it would need a venue that would accommodate 4,000.

The 50% capacity restriction for large indoor events will last through Jan. 31, and the city will evaluate whether it will need to continue.

Blangiardi said no other restrictions will be implemented, but urged businesses to continue to practice voluntary lockdowns if in doubt of their staff or customers’ safety.

The main message from Blangiardi and health care representatives that joined him at the press conference was to get boosted.

“That’s the single most important thing you can do,” said The Queen’s Health Systems President and CEO Jill Hoggard Green.

“Please get vaccinated with your booster.”

According to the latest state health figures released Wednesday, only about 26.3% of people in Hawaii have received a third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. On Oahu, 28% have received the booster shot.

That is why Blangiardi wants to make the booster shot as accessible as possible. The Neal S. Blaisdell Center and Hawaii Pacific Health have the capacity for delivering more booster shots. The city also is planning on using at least one truck to go to various neighborhoods to bring booster shots directly to people. Three buses from Hawaii Pacific Health are already doing a similar program driving around to different schools.

“We’re going to just try to make it as accessible as possible,” Blangiardi said.

“But at the end of the day, this is about voluntary behavior. We can’t say it over and over enough, there’s no need to be fearful … We’re really going to need people to respond.”

Hawaii Medical Service Association President and CEO Mark Mugiishi pointed out that of those who are hospitalized with COVID-19, about 30% to 40% are vaccinated, but did not receive a booster shot. In comparison, only 10% of those in the hospital with COVID-19 have received a booster shot, and none are in intensive care units.

However, Vara noted that there are people who were hospitalized for other issues, but tested for COVID-19. Those people are counted in the hospitalization count, even though they are not being hospitalized for COVID-19 symptoms.

“Because for consistency reasons, we’ve decided on a statewide basis, that if they’re in the hospital, and they have a positive COVID test, we are going to report them because that’s what we always reported,” he said.

“So does it cause inflation of the numbers? I guess I’d have to say, yes, it does. But again, we think it’s important to identify them for consistency reasons.”

Healthcare Association of Hawaii President and CEO Hilton Raethel said even though that type of patient may not be symptomatic, the resource usage remains the same.

“From a health care perspective, we have to treat that patient as an infectious patient because they have COVID, even though they did not know it,” he said. “So from a resource consumption, we still have to take the same precautions, we still have to apply the same staffing ratios, whether that patient is being treated for COVID or not being treated for COVID.”

Hoggard Green addressed the access to COVID-19 tests, and announced that Queen’s will be opening two more sites today.

“I do know that when people are making appointments, it’s a struggle. I’ve got in the last 24 or 48 hours folks saying, ‘Hey, we need more,’” she said. “Know that the health systems are working very rapidly to open up … So I would encourage you, if you have any symptoms, to go get tested.”

She also added that delivery of at-home rapid tests may be delayed, but to continue to put orders in for it.

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