We stand with you, mayor
Dear Mayor Kawakami;
Thank you for requesting to opt out.
Please, this time, do not take “no” for an answer.
We are many who will ALL be behind you.
Phyllis Albert, Ph.D., Koloa
Please, visitors, wear masks, be mindful of those around you
To those who are coming to Kaua‘i:
Within the start of the coronavirus many schools had shut down and many of the schools sent the students home to begin distance learning. Over time the coronavirus began to die down on the island of Kaua‘i because of the many procedures we had gone through to keep our island safe.
By early October they began to allow tourists back onto the islands for many businesses to be up and running again. When that happened our cases spiked up and many things are being taken away again. For students, their face-to-face learning was taken away, and we don’t know if it will start up again after all these cases that just keep going up. For big families, the ability to go around each other and have get-togethers is limited.
According to, kauai.gov, “A 14-day mandatory quarantine will be required for all travelers arriving WITHOUT a confirmed negative COVID test approved by the Safe Travels Program.”
I believe allowing the tourists back wasn’t a bad idea, but the fact that many of them are staying and refusing to use masks and going around spreading the virus is what is not OK. Even though they had taken the test prior to coming, they could have very much caught it once again, or they could have had it and when they are supposed to take the test at the end of the 14-day quarantine again it could have come out positive.
The 14-day quarantine for those who haven’t already tested prior to going isn]t always the best or smartest option, and that’s what many don’t see. The virus is taking over again slowly by slowly. The Thanksgiving that we had this year was minimized to only so many people, and originally so many families get together to have a Thanksgiving dinner, but this year and all the cases that were taken away, and soon enough if it continues to go this way, our state will once again be on lockdown and our island will go back to having curfews and many, many rules among the island.
So to those who are traveling to Kaua‘i, I, along with the entire island, ask you to wear a mask and be mindful of the island and the others around you.
Sassaley Aviguetero. Makaweli
