Aug. 1, 2020 a date to reopen Kaua‘i or begin practicing safe distancing funeral procession? It has become plainly clear as to how the Corona-19 Virus is spread – uncontrolled human contact. Not wearing masks, not socially distancing, not following the science guided directions.
We’ve see on the mainland crowded beaches, the wide open bars, restaurants without any social distancing, boardwalks with people shoulder to shoulder, political rallies as though it was 2017, all without masks and not a care in the world. No one caring about anyone else and all behaving as though they were immortal. Well, they aren’t and neither are we here on Kauai.
We done a good job here. We don’t need to become a Petrie dish in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. We don’t need to invite the virus here with Aloha. Do we have the infrastructure to monitor the tourists who ignored rules in their own cities, counties and states? Do you think they are going to come here and follow our rules? You think they’re going to hangout in hotel rooms for 6 days? They couldn’t even stay in their own home for a day. No, they’re coming here to escape the hell that’s been created around them. Covid-19 test and 72 hrs. later Aloha Hawaii! How long before fake negative test forms show up on the internet? Anyone ever actually read a doctors signature and then know their name?
This is recipe for disaster and death. Just look at the numbers in Arizona, California (where a high % of our tourists arrive from), Texas, Florida … Do we care about Kapuna? Do we care about one another?
More 130,000 dead! Do you know how ventilators are on Kaua‘i? Try 8 (unless some got quietly brought in and no one is talking about them) reserve yours now.
It should be more than clear to any reasonable person by now that the White House is never going to provide any actual leadership during this pandemic. It is up to citizens of Kaua‘i and the citizens of the Great State of Hawai‘i to demand that our leaders act in the best interest of the people of Hawaii.
Yes, this is difficult, stressful, economically a disaster, emotionally draining – now add in deaths by the hundreds. Is that going to relieve difficulty. Is the agonizing death of a loved one not emotionally draining? Do you want a parent or grandparents to die alone with tubes down their throats. But not to worry it’s no longer just Kapuna. Now, it’s also young children, high schoolers, millennials, and X generation. Those who survive may suffer life long lingering health issues.
The islands do not have to become the Petrie dish of the Pacific. If we join together and make it clear to our elected representatives that we don’t want Kauai or the state of Hawaii to make the same fatal errors that so many other states made.
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Lawrence Hornbeck is a resident of Kilauea.
