Why tracing COVID-19 is a big lie in Hawaii

The Hawaii Employees Association (HGEA) has filed a grievance on behalf of all affected Department of Health employees who are/were required to perform COVID-19 contact tracing, field swabbing, and outreach response duties. This complaint was filed yesterday (August 10).

The issue of the DOH being unable to adequately contact trace is now abundantly clear after State Senators on the COVID-19 committee visited the DOH on Friday to find very few contact tracers.

Our members have been working incredibly hard to keep up with contact tracing but it has become an impossible task. Had the DOH brought on additional staff more quickly, this steady surge in cases may have been mitigated. This grievance represents the tip of the iceberg of a much larger public health problem.

HGEA implores our government leaders to put all differences aside, hire sufficient contact tracers, and promptly implement policies that will get this surge under control. The health of our entire community is at stake.

It appears the statement by the head of the department by Dr. Anderson at a Governor’s press conference saying the State has 105 active contract tracers was wrong.  The additional statement that the State can tap into 450 additional tracers was incorrect.