LIHU‘E — On Friday, health officials warned riders of The Kaua‘i Bus of potential exposure to a confirmed COVID-19 case.
The public notice, to those who rode the route 100 or 200 line between Kekaha and Lihu‘e during the afternoon or evenings of Aug. 10, 11 or 12, went out on the county’s public social-media site nearly 10 days later.
An employee within the county’s Transportation Agency, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that fellow department employees were notified on Aug. 18 of the exposure, two days before health officials released the notice to the public.
A COVID contact notice which was posted on a bulletin board, according to photos and eyewitnesses, notified employees of the possible exposure dates of Aug. 11 and Aug. 12. The letter states the posting went up Aug. 18 and will remain up until Sept. 3.
The employee expressed the frustration of lack of proper sanitization between those riding the bus and improper mask use by users.
“We were warning the county this would happen,” the employee said. “People walk in and they’re 2 feet away. They’re shoulder-to-shoulder (in the bus).”
Between 80% to 90% of the Transportation Agency staff is vaccinated against COVID-19, according to new data released last week. It is unclear if the individual in the initial exposure was vaccinated or unvaccinated.
About 77% of the county’s roughly 1,300 employees are fully vaccinated, officials reported.
County employees had to submit an attestation-of-vaccination form, disclosing vaccination status, as part of a county program to impose weekly testing on those who are not fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Between 90% to 100% of the Kaua‘i Emergency Management Agency, Human Resources Department, Mayor’s Office, Planning Department and Office of the Prosecuting Attorney are fully vaccinated.
Between 70% to 80% of the county’s Department of Parks &Recreation, Kaua‘i Police Department, Department of Public Works and Department of Water are vaccinated.
But the lowest percentage, between 50% to 60%, is the Kaua‘i Fire Department.
“We are providing the breakdown in the following manner to respect the privacy of our individual employees (for example, if we say a smaller department is fully vaccinated, employees of that department are easily identifiable),” a county spokesperson said in an email last week.
While the county was not able to provide how many individuals had initiated vaccination, it is expected the 77% figure will go up in the coming weeks, a county spokesperson said.
Those who are unvaccinated were notified that the county would be establishing a weekly testing program, which may change in frequency. Should an employee get vaccinated in the future, they would need to fill out a new form.
Not disclosing vaccination status would also require the employee to participate in the testing program. Failure to test could lead to disciplinary action. Falsifying information can also result in disciplinary action, which may include termination, according to the form.
The county’s testing program begins the week of Sunday, Aug. 29, according to a county memo from Mayor Derek Kawakami.
The county is encouraging employees to utilize the various free testing sites on-island, and is also securing rapid antigen self-tests that will be available at county facilities not close to free testing sites to allow employees to test at or close to work locations.
Testing will also be permitted during work hours, the memo said, at the start or end of a work shift.
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Sabrina Bodon, editor, can be reached at 245-0441 or sbodon@thegardenisland.com.
