Kokua Line: When will hospitals stop COVID testing?

Question: Will Hawaii hospitals continue to test every patient for COVID-19 after the federal emergency ends on May 11?

Answer: “There is no state or federal mandate that requires hospitals in Hawaii to test every patient for COVID-19. The consensus of Hawaii’s hospitals has been to test all patients admitted to the hospital, and all patients requiring surgery, even if that the surgery is done on an outpatient basis. That stance is not impacted by the end of the federal public health emergency on May 11 of this year. We do anticipate however that this stance will be relaxed over time, although as of today, there is no timeline,” Hilton Raethel, president of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, said Thursday in an email.

The Biden administration has announced that it intends to let the federal public health emergency for COVID-19 expire May 11. A fact sheet (808ne.ws/phe) issued Feb. 9 explains some of the changes that will occur once it does.

Q: My husband took a free COVID-19 test at the airport in October. He now needs a copy of the test for a travel insurance claim. He tried to access the report in his email, but it said the token had expired and he was not able to get it. He then sent an email to covidresponse@ kidneyhi.org but did not get a response. Is there a way he can get a copy of that report?

A: Honolulu’s municipal government ended COVID-19 testing at the mobile lab at the Honolulu airport on Dec. 30. The National Kidney Foundation of Hawaii had administered the testing program. Since the site is closed, we suggested that you also follow up with the foundation by telephone, at 808-593-1515, rather than inquiring solely by email.

You confirmed in a follow­-up email that your husband has since called the Kidney Foundation and that a staffer responded, promising to email him a copy of the COVID-19 test report.

Your question highlights the importance of saving any test result or other medical record that is delivered electronically but which is not included in an online medical records system to which the patient has ongoing access.

Q: Why was there no weekly update published on coronavirus cases?

A: The state Department of Health usually updates its COVID-19 data and online dashboards every Wednesday. It said it was unable to do so last week because of “an ongoing upgrade of our disease surveillance system infrastructure.” Updates are scheduled to resume Wednesday. There will be no gap in the data, because last week’s counts will be included in this week’s update, it said.

Q: I received an “urgent” email saying my box is ready for delivery and to schedule delivery. I did not order anything and am not waiting for delivery of anything from FedEx. Is this a possible scam?

A: Yes, it’s a well-known one. “This scam relies on contacting you by email or phone to resolve an alleged issue with a FedEx shipment. Once contact is made, the attacker uses social engineering techniques to attempt to defraud you. The email is typically vague and provides little or no details of the shipment,” according to the company’s website, fedex.com. You can read other details about this scam, including typical subject lines, reply email addresses and phone numbers in the FedEx trust center on its website.

It’s best not to open the suspicious email. Don’t reply to it, click on any hyperlink within it or open any attachment. Delete the email immediately or forward it to abuse@fedex.com, the company says.

This scam is not limited to FedEx; it afflicts other mailing, shipping or delivery companies as well.

Write to Kokua Line at Honolulu Star-Advertiser, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., Suite 7-500, Honolulu, HI 96813; call 808-529-4773; or email kokualine@staradvertiser.com.