Back in May, I reported that Hawaii was keeping the state in COVID-bondage until the vaccines ended the pandemic. Hawaii officials forced tourists to quarantine, arrested them, and smashed their travel plans for failure to follow the state’s aggressive and arcane COVID policies.
In addition to the severe masking requirements and restrictions Hawaii has imposed, especially on visitors, 73% of the state has received at least one dose. Overall, 772,354 people, or 54% of Hawaii’s population have been fully vaccinated.
Furthermore, the state can hardly be considered a center of red-state, Trumpian political activists.
With all of these facts in mind, a look at the COVID-situation in the Aloha State clearly shows that the bureaucratic approach is a failure.
Hawaii is reporting Hawaii’s sharp rise in Covid-19 cases during the month of July.
The state reported four more Covid deaths on Thursday, and more than 750 new cases. Covid hospitalizations hit a record single-day high at 352, according to the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.The highly contagious delta variant now makes up 93% of recent Covid cases in the islands, according to the new variant report released this week. Health officials say community transmission is responsible for the latest surge.“We are certainly at a critical juncture,” Sarah Kemble, state epidemiologist at the Hawaii Department of Health, told reporters on Thursday.
Faced with a flood of COVID-19 patients, Queen’s Medical Center West Oahu is declaring a “disaster” and is seeking additional support.
“Today we declared an internal state of emergency, so that means that all hands are on deck,” said Jason Chang, of the Queen’s Health Systems.Officials say Queen’s West Oahu is at capacity and every bed in the facility is full right now.“What that means is they’re overwhelmed, the capacity to take care of patients has exceeded, and they’ve asked the city for help,” Emergency Services Department Director Jim Ireland said.Officials will be creating an “extended ER” in the hospital’s parking lot. One tent has already been set up and more will be set up in the coming days.“This has been a preventable situation. We’re asking everybody to please, get vaccinated. We don’t want people to go out and socialize,” Chang said.
While many of the new Hawaiian cases are among the unvaccinated, 10% have been vaccinated. It must be noted that new studies confirm what the evidence from news reports over the last few weeks has suggested: The vaccine effectiveness wanes over time.
Taken together, the studies show that although the vaccines remain highly effective against hospitalizations and deaths, the bulwark they provide against infection with the virus has weakened in the past few months.The finding accords with early data from seven states, gathered this week by The New York Times, suggesting a rise in breakthrough infections and a smaller increase in hospitalizations among the vaccinated as the Delta variant spread in July.
Hawaiian hospitals are delaying non-emergency procedures in the wake of this outbreak. This is likely to lead to deaths and long-term health consequences in and of itself.
Sarina Erstad has had a tough year. In May, she found out she had breast cancer and spent three months going in and out of The Queen’s Medical Center for a barrage of tests and exams to figure out how bad it was.She scheduled a mastectomy to remove her cancerous breast on Aug. 19. Then Covid-19 cases shot up in Hawaii, and with them, Covid hospitalizations.As case counts swelled, Erstad found out that her surgery was rescheduled until Aug 24. Then she heard it was canceled. Then it was back on, but up in the air when.On Wednesday, she heard it was canceled completely and might not be rescheduled for months. She might have to go on hormone therapy and chemotherapy to prevent the cancer from spreading.
Clearly, the developments in Hawaii show that restrictions and masking do not work. It is not clear if the current vaccines are a long-term solution, either. Early diagnosis of more severe cases (rather than identifying all cases), seeking effective new treatments, and developing medical and healthcare resources would all be smarter moves.
In conclusion, Hawaii should really say “aloha” to “zero COVID”, which is no longer possible. I offer this graph, summarizing the number of COVID deaths in the state, to highlight the need to properly assess risk versus response to the virus.
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY