OLD/Closed General Discussion Thread: C-19/Hawaii. Will Hawaii re-open Oct. 15th? (+ NEW POLL)

[dioxide45]

Has Hawaii increased hospital capacity in the 6 months since this all began?

 

[DeniseM]

Hawaii pretty much maxed out all of their expansion options at the end of August, and at that time they asked the Feds for additional staffing, because they couldn't hire enough staff for more beds. I haven't been able to determine if they were sent federal help or not:

Hawaii Asks Feds To Send More Nurses To Help With The Pandemic

Local hospitals still have enough space to expand and respond to an increase in coronavirus patients but need more specialized nursing staff.

www.civilbeat.org

Hawaii is asking for 152 specialized nursing staff including medical-surgical telemetry nurses as well as respiratory therapists to care for the critically ill, HAH President and CEO Hilton Raethel said. Hawaii has already exhausted its other options which include activating approximately 80 Hawaii Army National Guard doctors and other personnel, hiring other medical workers from national registries such as travel nurses, and transferring patients to other hospitals or other settings, he said. Those actions are required to meet the criteria that justify a federal request.

 

[JIMinNC]

Has Hawaii increased hospital capacity in the 6 months since this all began?

Bingo! My question exactly. I’ve read nothing that indicates that has happened in Hawaii to any degree (or anywhere else for that matter). If I were a governmental leader at any level that would be my Priority #1. A rapid program to increase quality, long term hospital capacity (not just temporary field hospitals) so we don’t have to worry about maxing our capacity. This virus isn’t going away, probably ever. We need to quit acting like it will just go away. It won’t, even with a vaccine.

 

[Garden115]

Hawaii has announced it will open up on October 15.
Travel: Visitors are allowed if they are tested no earlier than 72 hours before their flight arrives with an FDA-approved nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), performed using a nasal swab, and can show proof of negative test results from a CLIA certified laboratory.

 

[csodjd]

An NAAT test can be a rapid test with results in 5-15 minutes.

Those are not done at a CLIA approved lab though. PCR tests are done at the labs.

 

[cman]

I was last tested on a Thursday afternoon. They said they hoped to have results Friday, but if not, it would be Monday because they don't get results on the weekend. Sure enough, it was Monday before I got my results.

My son's results have the date that he was tested, but not the time. They list his result as negative, two days after he took the test, with a time of 1:08 AM. Did your results include the time that you actually took the test?

 

[controller1]

My son's results have the date that he was tested, but not the time. They list his result as negative, two days after he took the test, with a time of 1:08 AM. Did your results include the time that you actually took the test?

I just looked at my test result from August. It lists only the dates the sample was collected, the lab received the sample and the date reported. No times are listed.

 

[csodjd]

My son's results have the date that he was tested, but not the time. They list his result as negative, two days after he took the test, with a time of 1:08 AM. Did your results include the time that you actually took the test?

My test result, from Primex laboratories, shows the date collected, date received, and date reported. It does not show any times. Date collected was 8/21. Date reported was 8/24. If I went to Hawaii on 8/24 there'd be no way of knowing if my negative was within 72 hours of arrival or not. We'd know it was close, that's about all.

I have a feeling, however, that when they get to the details, it won't be 72 hours. It'll be 3 days. If you arrive on 8/24 you need to have been tested no earlier than 8/21. To do otherwise would be getting into issues of minutes or seconds even. Imagine you're standing in line, next up, and the person in front of you is struggling with their English and your 72 hours runs while standing there. I don't imagine that's a problem they want to deal with.

I think you'll have to arrive not later than the 3rd day after the sample was collected without regard to whether the sample was collected at 10:00am or 2:00pm.

 

[cman]

I have a feeling, however, that when they get to the details, it won't be 72 hours. It'll be 3 days.

I agree. I also see that they've designated CVS and Kaiser Permanente as "trusted testing partners".

"Currently approved trusted testing partners are: CVS and Kaiser Permanente. Trusted testing partners are entities that understand exactly what the State requires in terms of this program. Additionally, the state will accept test results from other sources so long as they meet the testing parameters set forth by the DOH, which are an FDA-approved NAAT test that is processed by a CLIA certified lab. "

I'm not sure what that means, just wondering if we get tested at CVS, would our results include the time the test was taken. Here's the link for the info above;

https://hawaiicovid19.com/travel/#travel-FAQs

 

[csodjd]

Have to wonder why the require a test of babies. Not that I have one, or would travel to Hawaii with one now if I did, but does a 3 month old really need a negative covid test or else be subject to quarantine? (Oh, and CVS says the test only age 12 and over.)

 

[controller1]

(Oh, and CVS says the test only age 12 and over.)

I also noticed that when I went to the CVS website. It is listed several times.

 

[Tamaradarann]

Have to wonder why the require a test of babies. Not that I have one, or would travel to Hawaii with one now if I did, but does a 3 month old really need a negative covid test or else be subject to quarantine? (Oh, and CVS says the test only age 12 and over.)

I agree with the rediculousness of testing babies. If the parents test negative they don't need to quarantine but the baby doesn't get tested so the baby must quarantine. Will they arrest the baby if the baby doesn't quarantine?

 

[controller1]

Nowhere in Hawaiʻi is the loss of tourism felt more by businesses than on Maui, according to a joint survey in July by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi. Of the respondents, 62 percent said their business was down 90 to 100 percent (essentially no revenue coming in).
. . .
The real impact of the business closures in Hawaiʻi likely has not caught up to the data so far. There have been 2,247 business dissolutions, terminations, cancellations and withdrawals from March to August 2020, according to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. That is only 13 more than during the same timeframe in 2019.

But businesses file with DCCA annually, and do not have to file paperwork to dissolve immediately, said Jayson Horiuchi, communications officer with the department. So there is a lag time between when a business closes and when that closure is documented with the state.

Maui Businesses Continue to Close and Struggle as Pandemic Drags On | Maui Now

More than 15 Maui businesses, including eight restaurants, have closed their doors for good due to the lack of tourism and other economic woes caused by the coronavirus. Many more Maui businesses are teetering on the brink, as government assistance programs for small businesses dry up and the...

mauinow.com

 

[Fredflintstone]

Nowhere in Hawaiʻi is the loss of tourism felt more by businesses than on Maui, according to a joint survey in July by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi. Of the respondents, 62 percent said their business was down 90 to 100 percent (essentially no revenue coming in).
. . .
The real impact of the business closures in Hawaiʻi likely has not caught up to the data so far. There have been 2,247 business dissolutions, terminations, cancellations and withdrawals from March to August 2020, according to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. That is only 13 more than during the same timeframe in 2019.

But businesses file with DCCA annually, and do not have to file paperwork to dissolve immediately, said Jayson Horiuchi, communications officer with the department. So there is a lag time between when a business closes and when that closure is documented with the state.

Maui Businesses Continue to Close and Struggle as Pandemic Drags On | Maui Now

More than 15 Maui businesses, including eight restaurants, have closed their doors for good due to the lack of tourism and other economic woes caused by the coronavirus. Many more Maui businesses are teetering on the brink, as government assistance programs for small businesses dry up and the...

mauinow.com

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[rickandcindy23]

We have a friend that manages one of the big box stores on Maui and business is booming for home improvements.

 

[Fredflintstone]

We have a friend that manages one of the big box stores on Maui and business is booming for home improvements.

I have read from many sources that Big Box (Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Home Depot, etc.) are doing gangbusters but the Mom and Pops are dying. I have a few friends in Hawaii and all of them own small business. Every one of them are suffering badly and on the verge of losing their small businesses. Granted, they are in the tourist industry. I hope tourism opens and stays open soon so they have a chance of surviving.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

 

[DannyTS]

I also noticed that when I went to the CVS website. It is listed several times.

Hawaii only had 6 months to prepare the details so what would you expect?

 

[ljmiii]

Has Hawaii increased hospital capacity in the 6 months since this all began?

Queen's Medical Center added (is adding?) a 24 bed negative pressure ICU infectious disease ward. It was theoretically going to be "ready by September" but I don't know if it has opened yet.

Queen’s preps COVID-19 unit for ‘second wave’ of patients | Honolulu Star-Advertiser

Hawaii’s oldest hospital will convert a space dedicated to COVID-19 patients that would be ready by September.

www.staradvertiser.com

 

[ljmiii]

If the parents test negative they don't need to quarantine but the baby doesn't get tested so the baby must quarantine. Will they arrest the baby if the baby doesn't quarantine?

No...but the whole family would have to quarantine (or return to the mainland). I don't see Hawaiians separating children from their parents.

 

[DeniseM]

Queen's Medical Center added (is adding?) a 24 bed negative pressure ICU infectious disease ward. It was theoretically going to be "ready by September" but I don't know if it has opened yet.

Wow! - Half a million dollars per ICU bed!

 

[slip]

Nowhere in Hawaiʻi is the loss of tourism felt more by businesses than on Maui, according to a joint survey in July by the University of Hawaiʻi Economic Research Organization and the Chamber of Commerce of Hawaiʻi. Of the respondents, 62 percent said their business was down 90 to 100 percent (essentially no revenue coming in).
. . .
The real impact of the business closures in Hawaiʻi likely has not caught up to the data so far. There have been 2,247 business dissolutions, terminations, cancellations and withdrawals from March to August 2020, according to the state Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs. That is only 13 more than during the same timeframe in 2019.

But businesses file with DCCA annually, and do not have to file paperwork to dissolve immediately, said Jayson Horiuchi, communications officer with the department. So there is a lag time between when a business closes and when that closure is documented with the state.

Maui Businesses Continue to Close and Struggle as Pandemic Drags On | Maui Now

More than 15 Maui businesses, including eight restaurants, have closed their doors for good due to the lack of tourism and other economic woes caused by the coronavirus. Many more Maui businesses are teetering on the brink, as government assistance programs for small businesses dry up and the...

mauinow.com

Maui being the most affected is correct for the company I work for and we are on all the islands.

 

[ljmiii]

Wow! - Half a million dollars per ICU bed!

Yup...Hospitals ain't cheap! Around here everything gets named after a benefactor - the Bloomberg/Helmsley/Cohen wing/tower/ward phenomenon.

 

[Blues]

Wow! - Half a million dollars per ICU bed!

The hospital bed itself -- not the monitoring equipment, not the building space or air handling, just the bed -- can easily be a 6 figure amount.

 

[critterchick]

I was able to switch our restricted Staroptions from an October 1 to November 29 to the Westin Princeville (I already had it booked but didn’t want another batch of restricted SOs so cancelled that one). I wonder what their max capacity will be by then.

I’ll cancel again and wave the white flag on 2020 if the quarantine extends to all again regardless of test results. I live near a bluff overlooking the other side of the Pacific, so no need to imprison myself in my unit or the resort for the same view (or worse, the kiddie pool) without the ability even to get groceries.

 

[csodjd]

Ahhh.... 114 new cases today, breaking that bump/reverse trend.

The hospital bed itself -- not the monitoring equipment, not the building space or air handling, just the bed -- can easily be a 6 figure amount.

It's the wheels. They're all on wheels. Very expensive.

There is such a degree of absurdity in medical equipment pricing. If I purchase tweezers for removing eyelashes (epilation) from a medical supply they are about $45. From CVS I can get the same tweezers that work great for about $5.