HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0843.096 2018-2020 COUNTY CLERK
COUNTY OF HAWAI'I
RECEIVED
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Thu 3/19/2020 11:24 PM Time 11�� By
Protect Hawa'i County from COVID-19 Date MAR (1 2020
To: Council Testimony
Dear Hawai'i County Council,
I am vastly frustrated that the Mayor of Hawai'i County, Harry Kim, is taking a "we have to be open for
tourists/we'll just clean everything"approach to the COVID-19 pandemic. Never mind that we have
over 200,000 residents with about 8,000 visitors on any given day but only have about 400 hospital beds
and 40 ventilators on this island. Never mind that the other islands are taking measures to discourage
tourism,such as Kauai's 9pm-5am curfew and Honolulu closing night clubs and bars and mandating that
restaurants be take-out only. Kim outright said that Hawai'i Island is staying open "because the tourists
have to eat" and "they're all confined to resorts" and therefore will be a contained risk. He appears to
have forgotten that the people who live here actually work in those resorts, and therefore will have
face-to-face contact with direct vectors of transmission.
In light of this, I implore you all to take measures to discourage pleasure travel to "The Big Island."At
this moment we have one confirmed COVID-19 case,a tourist who felt ill a few days after arriving
which means she contracted the virus before she left the Mainland. She is isolating in her hotel in Hilo.
In late February a cruise ship that later reported COVID-19 made a port call to Hilo. Random testing of
swabs from residents who were tested for flu but found negative thus far has not turned up any
additional COVID-19,which means *at this moment*there is no indication of community spread. Rather
than using this fortunate reprieve to prepare for the inevitable onslaught, our Mayor is insisting that we
are different from the other islands and must remain open for business.
I live in North Kohala, and my family is taking this seriously.We have decided to cancel all trips to Hilo,
and to only go to Waimea or Kona in the event of an emergency.We are limiting our forays into our
local population centers of Hawi and Kapa'au. Our church has closed,our Kumu Hula have suspended
classes.The men who provide lawn care services for our property won't be here again for another two
weeks, and we've paid them forward so that if they do come in April we don't have to get close to them.
I hope that enough people in our district, North Kohala,take this seriously enough to keep our
community safe. We have a long road ahead of us,and will be looking out for our neighbors! We are in
the very early stages of this crisis and we recognize—unlike our Mayor—that not only is this not a time
for"business as usual," but that the situation will most likely extend longer than a few weeks.
Thanks for reading my testimony. Please take the necessary measures for preventing COVID-19
community transmission on Hawai'i Island by seriously curtailing tourism.
Sincerely,
Laura La Gassa
Kapa'au
Comm. No. 44-610 '41°
Ref. To: P(Unti
Ref. Date MAR 2 0 2020'