Governor Ige: “We face a challenging future”
Governor Ige today urged to keep Hawaii safe from the virus and financially sound. He praised the Hawaiian people, noting that due to their discipline, Hawaii still has the lowest number cases of COVID-19 and the lowest number of fatalities in the nation.
Hospitals are in good shape, with only 120 out of 244 Intensive Care beds used. Only 3 out of the 120 used are COVID-19 cases.
Hawaii has 53 out of 458 ventilators in use, only 2 are used for COVID-19 cases.
Altogether 115 people in Hawaii were hospitalized, and 19 died. Hawaii has 2500 hospital beds and in case of an emergency, an increase of 30% could be arranged. 1.3 people out of 100,000 died in Hawaii, what is the lowest number in the United States.
Lt. Governor Green added that Hawaii is uniquely positioned to learn from other states in the continental US and Alaska. He is in contact with states’ heads of health departments across the country.
“These are unchartered territory for all of us,” Dr. Anderson said, adding:”It can be confirmed that community spread is a reality on Oahu at this time.”
After Mayor Caldwell, Hawaii Governor Ige said, that he would consider extending further in the future the date when transpacific travelers could arrive in Hawaii without having to enter quarantine, should the situation on the Mainland become uncontrollable.
In the meantime, considering the dire financial situation the State is in, the officials are working on the reopening at full speed.
The Governor said he was very thoughtful before a decision for the August 1 reopening was made. Three criteria had to be met for that to happen.
- Number of cases in Hawaii had to be reduced for 2 periods
- Sufficient capacity in the health system had to be in place to deal with a larger outbreak
- Adequate testing and contact tracing had to be in place
179 tracers available that could be put in the field tracing 20 people each. Dr. Anderson said, that this is a lot of capacity.
Doubling the infection rate or a steady increase in infection would be of real concern that could lead to considering shutting the State of Hawaii down again.
The main reason Hawaii may open in August seems to be the economic condition the State is in.
Governor Ige today explained that health always was first concern, but he made clear that as a governor, he is also responsible for dealing with the growing financial crisis. The fiscal year for Hawaii ended June 30.
The Governor warned that even with 4 billion dollars in federal assistance, the State of Hawaii has not seen the full economic picture yet.
A $600 payments from the Federal Government to the 200,000 Hawaii’s unemployed will stop July 31. Therefore the August 1 opening date may not be a coincidence.
Usually, the State collects $644 million in taxes each month. In June this number was down to $483 million.
By the end of the June 30 fiscal year, the State took in $6.5 billion in taxes, down from $7 billion.
Governor Ige said everything is on the table to balance the budget. It can mean potential cuts, hiring freezes and more.
“We face a challenging future, we will take it head on in the next few weeks and months ahead,” Governor Ige made clear.
“There is a light at the end of the tunnel looking at possible vaccines and medication, but this is a marathon, not a sprint.”
He ended saying: “Keep Safe and Sound. It’s everyone’s personal responsibility to win the battle.”
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