HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0843.048 2018-2020 COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
Fri 3/20/2020 8:51 AM RECEIVED
de
COVID-19 Testimony Time 8%71 WK By
Date MAR 2 0 2020
To: Council Testimony •
Testimony for emergency meeting, 3/20/2020
If This Was 1946, Mayor Kim Would Say, "Lets Go Pick Up,Fish"
... except those that lost their lives in the 1946 Tsunami on Hawai'i Island did not know what was
coming on that faithful April Fools Day, even into the first sets of waves. The tidal wave was new at
the time, and many didn't know the meaning when the waters receded and fish flopped on the
exposed reef. There was.confusion.
Waking up to the sounds of shouts in Laupahoehoe from classmate,Daniel Akiona,
"Tidal wave, tidal wave"Herbert Nishimoto recalled saying, "what's a tidal wave? We don't know what that
is."
COVID-19 is an invisible tsunami upon our shores.Like a tidal wave(s),there is build up over time until the
most damage comes in. Except today we have had prior warning and understanding of its arrival.
For two months/now the most professional epidemiologists on the planet have been predicting what weare'
now seeing transpire with the virus SARS-CoV-2,and the disease that overwhelms hospitals;COVID-19. I
listened to our Mayor speak on the hard calls Italy has had to make,yet Harry Kim remains undeterred.
The French have declared a health war against COVID-19.Australia has declared a'human biosecurity
emergency', whatever you want to call it,the Zero-Day Coronavirus is here.Even the US President now
considers himself a war-time president,yet Harry Kim remains undeterred.
We have been catapulted into a siege which we do not entirely understand.No one wins a war like this without
sacrifice.Our sacrifice,if extreme measures are taken,may be low to moderate. Without it, I don't care to
speculate.
The extreme measures in South Korea have begun to curb the rate of infection.These measures include
significant social distancing,extensive testing coupled with strict quarantine if warranted,followed by
contract-tracing and more testing.The preliminary results look similar to China,where much sacrifice was
needed to break the exponential growth in the COVID-19 outbreak.
Mayor Kim,a"pick up fish"policy is a pick up dead bodies policy. Probably not me,but the potentially the
bodies of loved ones.
We implore you,take decisive action now! Today!
Dane Dupont
Comm. No. 40'111
Ref. To: P l(, 1!
Ref. date MAR 2 0 2(120