LIHU‘E — ‘Anini resident Bev Brody is one of 94 health professionals and local doctors who signed a petition to urge Gov. David Ige to immediately take more decisive action to limit the spread of COVID-19.
The petition, congruent with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendation, asked Ige to do the following — Everyone should stay home; travel and social events should be postponed or canceled; all non-essential businesses should be closed; everyone entering the state should be screened; and the state should ensure it has adequate facilities for those affected by COVID-19. Testing should be free and easier to access by waiving the requirement for a primary-care-physician order.
Created by the Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network and Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, the letter and petition ask for “extreme measures” to be taken to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Brody, the director of Get Fit Kaua‘ʻi, a nonprofit organization and a pro-exercise and healthy-eating coalition organization, said her nonprofit organization’s outreach has gotten a lot busier since the spread of the virus became an international crisis in late February.
Get Fit Kaua‘i, a state and privately funded nonprofit which has done community-based projects such as developing safer roads to schools, worksite wellness, and educating people on how to live heathlier lifestyles, has broadened its outreach in response to the pandemic.
Brody chose to sign the petition to increase awareness of preventative measures designed to help curtail transmission of the virus.
“We are a public-health organization, and this takes what we do to a whole new level,” Brody said. “We’ve been busy during this time.”
Executive director of the Hawai‘i Children’s Action Network, Deborah Zysman, said she felt actions taken thus far “wasn’t enough.”
“Our governor’s actions yesterday were a start, but not enough,” Zysman said in a press release “Governor Ige must mandate extreme social-distancing measures before the spread worsens.”
Currently, the CDC lists several preventative measures, including cleaning your hands often, avoiding close contact with people who are sick, staying at home if you are sick, wearing face masks if you are sick, and cleaning and disinfecting surfaces.
Jessica Yamauchi, executive director of the Hawai‘i Public Health Institute, said quick action is the best way forward for preventing the spread of COVID-19.
“We have a relatively small number of patients right now, but this number will continue to increase,” Yamauchi said in a press release. “We recently saw our first confirmed case of community spread. If we wait to act until the situation gets worse, it will be too late.”
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Jason Blasco, sports reporter, can be reached at 245-0437 or jblasco@thegardenisland.com.
