WEBVTT - How Hawaii Lost Control of Its Coronavirus Response

0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.800
<v Speaker 1>It's Thursday, September three. I'm Oscar Ramirez from the Daily

0:00:03.840 --> 0:00:08.280
<v Speaker 1>Dive podcast in Los Angeles, and this is Reopening America.

0:00:08.760 --> 0:00:11.039
<v Speaker 1>As the pandemic worked its way through the United States,

0:00:11.280 --> 0:00:15.000
<v Speaker 1>Hawaii had a handle on its cases early on. Recently, however,

0:00:15.400 --> 0:00:18.680
<v Speaker 1>case counts and hospitalizations have started to creep up as

0:00:18.680 --> 0:00:21.479
<v Speaker 1>a result of complacency by residents and a lack of

0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:25.560
<v Speaker 1>preparation by officials. Quarantine measures for travelers are still in place,

0:00:25.800 --> 0:00:28.240
<v Speaker 1>and the opening of the state has continued to be delayed.

0:00:28.840 --> 0:00:33.159
<v Speaker 1>Alice Miranda Olstein, healthcare reporter at Politico, joins us for

0:00:33.240 --> 0:00:36.840
<v Speaker 1>what happened to Hawaii. Thanks for joining us, Alice, absolutely,

0:00:36.880 --> 0:00:40.040
<v Speaker 1>thank you. I wanted to talk about Hawaii throughout the

0:00:40.080 --> 0:00:44.880
<v Speaker 1>coronavirus pandemic. They started off very well. The case number

0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:49.000
<v Speaker 1>was very low of coronavirus, but just very recently the

0:00:49.080 --> 0:00:51.879
<v Speaker 1>numbers have started to go up. There really has been

0:00:51.880 --> 0:00:55.680
<v Speaker 1>a kind of seesaw effect with the way they've open stuff,

0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.680
<v Speaker 1>closed things, and obviously the effect that it's having on

0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:02.000
<v Speaker 1>the economy, since they're heavily reliant on tourism, has been

0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:05.319
<v Speaker 1>all over the place. So what is going on with Hawaii?

0:01:05.720 --> 0:01:07.560
<v Speaker 1>As I mentioned they start off so well and things

0:01:07.600 --> 0:01:09.720
<v Speaker 1>have gotten worse since the summer began, So what's going

0:01:09.760 --> 0:01:13.199
<v Speaker 1>on there with way, So, just a few months ago,

0:01:13.440 --> 0:01:16.840
<v Speaker 1>Hawaii had the fewest cases per capita in the whole country.

0:01:17.000 --> 0:01:21.720
<v Speaker 1>They obviously have some geographic advantages. It's easier to close

0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.680
<v Speaker 1>your borders and know who's coming in when you are

0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.680
<v Speaker 1>an island in the middle of ocean than easier than

0:01:27.720 --> 0:01:31.800
<v Speaker 1>other states. So they took a lot of precautions early

0:01:31.959 --> 0:01:35.000
<v Speaker 1>on and it really paid off, and their case count

0:01:35.040 --> 0:01:38.640
<v Speaker 1>was extremely low. And then they did not use that

0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:43.120
<v Speaker 1>time period to build up these pessing and contact tracing

0:01:43.560 --> 0:01:49.200
<v Speaker 1>infrastructure necessary for a surge, and inevitably a surge came.

0:01:49.480 --> 0:01:53.320
<v Speaker 1>Once businesses reopened, people gathered together again. It really took

0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.840
<v Speaker 1>off over the July fourth weekend. People not wearing masks,

0:01:56.960 --> 0:02:00.480
<v Speaker 1>people gathering together, and the state didn't have enough testing

0:02:00.560 --> 0:02:04.400
<v Speaker 1>and contact tracing services and the workforce needed. And now

0:02:04.480 --> 0:02:08.079
<v Speaker 1>they're scrambling to build it up. Now the generals flew

0:02:08.120 --> 0:02:10.160
<v Speaker 1>all the way there to open up a testing site,

0:02:10.160 --> 0:02:13.520
<v Speaker 1>a surge testing site, and now they're scrambling to contain

0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:17.400
<v Speaker 1>things and a lot of officials there and folks we

0:02:17.520 --> 0:02:20.400
<v Speaker 1>talked to in the health world say this have been

0:02:20.400 --> 0:02:22.919
<v Speaker 1>avoided if we did this preparation ahead of time rather

0:02:23.000 --> 0:02:26.079
<v Speaker 1>than doing it after things have gotten this bad. It's

0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:28.360
<v Speaker 1>kind of the same tale that we saw throughout the

0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:32.519
<v Speaker 1>country various states who started off well, then they got complacent,

0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.520
<v Speaker 1>and the public kind of got complacent as well. Nobody

0:02:35.520 --> 0:02:38.600
<v Speaker 1>really prepared for that second wave or another surge, and

0:02:38.639 --> 0:02:40.920
<v Speaker 1>then boom, you're hit with a bunch of rising cases.

0:02:40.960 --> 0:02:43.400
<v Speaker 1>So in Hawaii, as you mentioned, one of the biggest

0:02:43.400 --> 0:02:47.280
<v Speaker 1>things was the contact tracing effort. They said the state

0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.640
<v Speaker 1>needs about four hundred contact tracers. They have about a hundred,

0:02:50.880 --> 0:02:53.080
<v Speaker 1>So I know that's been one of the biggest points

0:02:53.080 --> 0:02:57.519
<v Speaker 1>of contention there, definitely, and so they are hiring more now,

0:02:57.639 --> 0:03:00.640
<v Speaker 1>trying to build that out now train people. But again,

0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:03.480
<v Speaker 1>this is challenging work and it takes time to hire

0:03:03.560 --> 0:03:06.600
<v Speaker 1>and train people. And the frustration a lot of folks

0:03:06.639 --> 0:03:10.080
<v Speaker 1>communicated to us is that we could have known ahead

0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:12.400
<v Speaker 1>of time that this would have been necessary and done

0:03:12.440 --> 0:03:15.520
<v Speaker 1>this preparation work when cases were low and we had

0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:18.920
<v Speaker 1>a little breathing room, instead of doing it now once

0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:21.520
<v Speaker 1>we're really under the gun. So what were some of

0:03:21.520 --> 0:03:24.840
<v Speaker 1>the other points that went wrong. From my reading in

0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:27.880
<v Speaker 1>the article, the administration got a little complacent. And what

0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:29.800
<v Speaker 1>they did, though, was they started opening up some of

0:03:29.840 --> 0:03:34.040
<v Speaker 1>this indoor dining stuff the salons before doing things in

0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:36.200
<v Speaker 1>outdoor spaces like opening up some of the beaches and

0:03:36.280 --> 0:03:39.160
<v Speaker 1>hiking trails. So they kind of did it opposite. The

0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:42.080
<v Speaker 1>public health experts I talked to are really baffled by this,

0:03:42.160 --> 0:03:44.240
<v Speaker 1>and this has been an issue in other states as well.

0:03:44.320 --> 0:03:48.840
<v Speaker 1>So the virus spread most easily in enclosed environments. If

0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:53.880
<v Speaker 1>we're in a restaurant indoors, talking and eating, it's much

0:03:53.920 --> 0:03:56.400
<v Speaker 1>easier for it to spread and for people to get

0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:59.800
<v Speaker 1>infected than in outdoor spaces where the air is circulating

0:03:59.800 --> 0:04:02.760
<v Speaker 1>and the virus can disperse and the sunlight helps as well.

0:04:02.920 --> 0:04:07.640
<v Speaker 1>And yet Hawaii opened up people could go to malls

0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:11.400
<v Speaker 1>and restaurants and nail salons before they could go to

0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:14.400
<v Speaker 1>some of the beaches and parks and hiking trails. And

0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:18.360
<v Speaker 1>this is just the opposite of what public health guidance recommends.

0:04:18.680 --> 0:04:21.560
<v Speaker 1>What has been the response from Governor David E. Gay

0:04:21.760 --> 0:04:24.200
<v Speaker 1>I know he is still saying, well, you know, we

0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:26.279
<v Speaker 1>did a lot of good things for the state, but

0:04:26.320 --> 0:04:28.800
<v Speaker 1>you know, our numbers are low, and still relatively to

0:04:28.880 --> 0:04:31.800
<v Speaker 1>the country, the numbers are very low there. But he

0:04:31.880 --> 0:04:34.400
<v Speaker 1>kind of threw it on the public, saying they got complacent,

0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:37.120
<v Speaker 1>and as you mentioned earlier, fourth of July was a

0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:41.400
<v Speaker 1>big one. Everybody went out and started parting. Additionally, some

0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.120
<v Speaker 1>state leaders have said no amount of contact tracing could

0:04:45.160 --> 0:04:48.560
<v Speaker 1>have prevented this. The response from the public health community

0:04:48.640 --> 0:04:50.960
<v Speaker 1>is yes, but it could have massively helped. I mean,

0:04:51.040 --> 0:04:54.640
<v Speaker 1>every time you contact someone and say you were exposed,

0:04:54.680 --> 0:04:57.520
<v Speaker 1>please stay home, that breaks the chain of transmission and

0:04:57.560 --> 0:05:00.400
<v Speaker 1>prevents it from spreading even further. And so even if

0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:03.240
<v Speaker 1>there would have been some surge due to for the

0:05:03.320 --> 0:05:06.760
<v Speaker 1>July and people getting complaintent and not wearing masks, contact

0:05:06.839 --> 0:05:10.200
<v Speaker 1>racing always helped. So yes, but I think it is

0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:13.679
<v Speaker 1>very telling. This is sort of breaking news. The head

0:05:13.800 --> 0:05:16.800
<v Speaker 1>of the health department just resigned one day after our

0:05:16.800 --> 0:05:20.880
<v Speaker 1>story ran. He's been there for decades and he just retired.

0:05:21.240 --> 0:05:23.839
<v Speaker 1>So I think that is a sign that there is

0:05:24.040 --> 0:05:27.640
<v Speaker 1>somewhat of a reckoning around the state's officials response to this.

0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.720
<v Speaker 1>So what kind of restrictions do they have right now?

0:05:30.800 --> 0:05:32.599
<v Speaker 1>Because I know for a long time they were doing

0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:34.600
<v Speaker 1>the you know, if you arrived into the state, you

0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:37.400
<v Speaker 1>had to do a fourteen day quarantine. Early on, they

0:05:37.440 --> 0:05:39.880
<v Speaker 1>did lockdowns and stay at home orders. It seems like

0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:41.760
<v Speaker 1>they have some of those in place again, I think

0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:45.360
<v Speaker 1>so they're putting them in place just for Oahu where

0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.640
<v Speaker 1>it's the worst right now, but it could extend to

0:05:48.880 --> 0:05:51.880
<v Speaker 1>the other islands depending on how things go. So there

0:05:51.960 --> 0:05:54.719
<v Speaker 1>is new stay at home order there. Bars are closing,

0:05:55.279 --> 0:05:58.960
<v Speaker 1>and like you said, the economy is so heavily dependent

0:05:59.040 --> 0:06:03.280
<v Speaker 1>on tourism that folks are really suffering there. The unemployment

0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:07.000
<v Speaker 1>rate is in the double digits, and the date for

0:06:07.279 --> 0:06:10.360
<v Speaker 1>reopening to tourism keeps getting pushed back further and further

0:06:10.560 --> 0:06:16.080
<v Speaker 1>as these outbreaks are getting worse and hospitalizations are way up.

0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:20.080
<v Speaker 1>And even though the state has had a very low

0:06:20.160 --> 0:06:23.000
<v Speaker 1>number of deaths throughout the pandemic, a big chunk of

0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:25.200
<v Speaker 1>those have happened in the last couple of weeks, which

0:06:25.240 --> 0:06:28.039
<v Speaker 1>is a very troubling sign. Hopefully they can get it

0:06:28.080 --> 0:06:30.240
<v Speaker 1>together and then, you know, as we've just been saying,

0:06:30.279 --> 0:06:32.880
<v Speaker 1>since they're so heavily relying on tourism, they can open

0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:34.760
<v Speaker 1>the state back up so that they can get that

0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:39.000
<v Speaker 1>back in order as well. Alice Miranda Olstein, healthcare reporter

0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:42.560
<v Speaker 1>at Politico. Thank you very much for joining us. Thank you.

0:06:45.120 --> 0:06:48.320
<v Speaker 1>I'm Oscar Ameres and this has been reopening America. Don't

0:06:48.360 --> 0:06:50.800
<v Speaker 1>forget different today's big news stories. You can check me

0:06:50.800 --> 0:06:53.680
<v Speaker 1>out on the Daily Dive podcast every Monday to Friday.

0:06:53.880 --> 0:06:56.279
<v Speaker 1>So follow us on I Heart Radio or wherever you

0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:57.080
<v Speaker 1>get your podcast