Lockdown Protest Caravans Across Oahu Today
Is Politics an "Essential Activity?"
Lots of rules, not enough clarity
List of Released Criminals
Hawaii Visitor Count Understates Actual Numbers
DLIR: State Has Issued $2.9 Billion in Benefits Since March 1
General Election Registration Deadline Oct 5
Auditor: DoE Refuses Cooperation with COVID Report
All travelers required to complete digital app starting Sept 1
Contact Tracing: “We could have done this much earlier “
HNN: …“We could have done this much earlier and not wait. And I don’t know if it’s because the Department of Health didn’t have the number of people to do contact tracing that this was withheld,” said state Sen. Michelle Kidani. “I’m just saying it’s a shame we had to wait this long.”
Kidani is a member of the Senate COVID-19 Committee that toured the Department of Health three weeks ago and found overwhelmed workers. The same group said they were pleasantly surprised by the effort in the new center, which was spearheaded by the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency.
“The fact that HIEMA is involved and is overseeing the effort, that’s why I think we can see the ramp up,” said state Sen. Donovan Dela Cruz. “If we left it to the Department of Health it would have taken a lot longer.”…
“Because the National Guard is involved, they seem to be writing the plans,” said state Sen. Donna Mercado Kim. “They seem to be able to organize it such that people are checking in, they know who’s on the teams -- you know, they’ve put together a structure that was not there before.”
Senators were told that the center is also training new contact tracers, and will add at least 50 of them every two weeks.
“The sad part of about it is it had to take all this effort ’til now to get this done,” said state Sen. Kurt Fevella….
read … Lawmakers tour expanded contact tracing operation at convention center
Kauai PD Watching 1,300 in Quarantine
TGI: … The Kaua‘i Police Department is currently monitoring more than 1,300 people in quarantine on Kaua‘i, Mayor Derek Kawakami said Friday.
On Thursday, 1,605 people arrived in the state, 43 directly onto Kaua‘i, according to the Hawai’i Tourism Authority. Both trans-Pacific and interisland travelers are required to self-quarantine for two weeks.
“Our county has committed significant resources to tracking airline passenger arrivals,” Kawakami said in his daily COVID-19 video. “We believe that our level of precaution is helping to keep our COVID-19 numbers low. The work involves long hours, seven days a week, and we owe a special debt of gratitude to all our community members (the regime has spies everywhere) who are helping manage our traveler-quarantine system.”…
read … Mayor lauds quarantine efforts
Maui Co receives more than 5,000 limited quarantine requests
MN: … As of Friday, Maui County officials had received well over 5,000 requests from travelers for a limited quarantine when arriving in the county following interisland travel….
“The vast majority” of the applications were granted, said Maui County spokesman Chris Sugidono.
“Nearly all requests that have been approved relate to CISA (critical infrastructure sector jobs) travel to or within Maui County, or travelers who fly to Oahu for medical purposes and return to work in a CISA job,” Sugidono said….
read … More than 5,000 limited quarantine requests
‘Temptation Island’ filming at Andaz allowed beginning Sept. 8 (trial run for tourist resort bubble?)
MN: … Gov. David Ige’s office Friday afternoon approved the county’s updated emergency rules to include the rule that productions in Maui County are to follow COVID-19 guidelines for the film industry, which were prepared by the City and County of Honolulu Film Office and approved by Ige previously.
Maui County Film Commissioner Tracy Bennett said that protocols in place include three negative COVID-19 tests for cast and crew to be able to work on the production; this includes taking a test 72 hours prior to their flight to Maui. If a person has a positive test prior to the flight, the individual will not be allowed to make the trip. There also will be quarantine restrictions following the initial tests and arrival to Maui.
Workers and cast must wear masks and social distance and are not to interact with hotel staff. Food will be left in an area of the hotel and will be grab and go, he said during the news conference. Those associated with the production will not be allowed to interact with the community and not be allowed outside the property.
Tests and personal protection equipment will be brought by the production crew, and there will be an emergency physician and three nurses on staff to handle any medical needs, Bennett added.
He also addressed concerns raised by the public, including the content of the reality show, which brings couples to an island with a group of single men and women to test the strength of their relationships. …
The production brings in about $7 million to $8 million per season and also has a trickle down effect on Maui’s economy, Bennett said.
Tuia’ana Scanlan, president of the IATSE Local 665 that represents film and TV workers, also outlined the guidelines to keep workers and hotel staff safe during filming. He said in a video feed during the news conference that even though there may be 100 to 200 workers for the show, they will not arrive at one time and will be trickling in with filming for two months.
(Miske News; Co-defendant Norman Akau IATSE Local 665 Exec Board Member (Compensation) (Credits))
The workers understand that they are “not going for a vacation” and that many have seen a beach before. Some of the crew members will be from Hawaii, Scanlan said, adding that they care about their home.
“They know we only got one chance to get this right,” he said.
A statement from Donna Domingo, president of the ILWU Local 142, which represents the hotel workers, gave support to “Temptation Island.”
“Our hotel workers will be properly trained and be provided all the necessary personal protective equipment and will follow the Safe Way Forward guidelines provided by the film industry. This is a great opportunity for Maui to reopen some of its economy in a safe way,” Domingo said in her statement in the county news release.
The ILWU previously said that hotel workers will follow the same protocols for cast and crew, getting tested before going to work and randomly during the filming process.
Victorino said Friday that the production will bring about 140 hotel workers back on the job….
CB: IATSE 665 Tries to Justify Itself
MN: Maui County is a popular location for corporate getaways and for visiting trades, such as the film industry. However, rarely do we fully capitalize on the ripe opportunity this presents us.
KITV: Temptation Island production to be Maui's first attempt at resort bubble concept
MN: Small Demonstration Against Temptation Island Filming Urges Government Leaders to “Protect Hawai‘i”
Related: Miske Mob Were All Union Drivers on Set of Hawaii 5-0
read … ‘Temptation Island’ filming at Andaz allowed beginning Sept. 8
To Spread COVID, MCCC Inmates Refuse to Wear Masks
KHON: … “The coronavirus that recently hit OCCC and Halawa Oahu has everyone here in a panic (feeling hopeful and opportunistic)” said inmate A1007586, Kent Stone. Stone says they are issued a mask, but social distancing is impossible.
“None of us wear them in here, because .(insert excuse here.) The furthest we’ve been away from one another is ten feet, for five minutes while we shower, we sleep three feet from one another, sit shoulder to shoulder at meals. We don’t know if we’ve been infected simple because we haven’t been tested, dozens of us,” he said (grinning broadly with anticipation of the release promised to him by Esser)….
Three additional OCCC inmates, one staff member test positive for COVID-19
2 more Maui Police Department employees in isolation after COVID test results return positive
SA: OCCC gets 4 more positive virus tests for total of 309
read … MCCC Inmates Fear They are in Danger
70 Homeless Test Positive for COVID as criminals continue to purposefully spread disease among themselves
WHT: … Scott Morishige, the Gov. David Ige’s Coordinator on Homelessness, revealed during the meeting that 70 homeless individuals (ie non-incarcerated criminals) across the state have tested positive to date, with 62 coming in the past month. Of these, zero active cases are on the Big Island, according to a statement from Bridging the Gap read by committee Chairwoman Rep. Joy San Buenaventura (D-Puna).
While the exact number of infections among the homeless population is unclear, Morishige insisted the data presented Friday was a good snapshot of the current situation. San Buenaventura added that the statement from Bridging the Gap showed a testing rate of 77% of Hawaii County’s homeless population….
“The quadrupling of isolation and quarantine facilities in the last 17 days is mind-boggling,” said Fan.
Department of Health Behavioral Health Administration Deputy Director Edward Mersereau noted that though 194 of Oahu’s 293 units are open, he expects an incoming jump with the aim of 70,000 additional tests in the coming two weeks to stress the system; some 250 more units are expected in the upcoming few days.
The number of these units on neighbor islands was not given despite multiple requests from San Buenaventura. Morishige did note, however, that there are rooms set aside in both Hilo and West Hawaii….
Meanwhile: Laptops and iPads stolen from distance learning center
read … House committee addresses virus spread among homeless
Lawmakers: DOH Needs To Disclose the numerous COVID-19 Cases Caused By Ex-Inmates who refuse to test at jail
CB: … Human Services Committee Chairwoman Joy San Buenaventura asked at the Friday hearing if all of the inmates are tested before they are released, and Eddie Mersereau, DOH’s deputy director of behavioral health, said that some refuse to take the test.
(They know they will be denied exit if they are positive)
Inmates cannot be released under the Supreme Court orders if they have tested positive for COVID-19 or if they are awaiting the results of a test, but not everyone who is released is covered by that order, Mersereau said.
An unknown number of inmates were released from OCCC in recent weeks in the normal course of business as the prisoners completed their sentences or posted bail, and those prisoners are not subject to the restrictions imposed by the Supreme Court order.
San Buenaventura asked if the COVID-19 outbreak at the Institute for Human Services has been linked to an inmate, and was told the state Department of Health is still completing the contact tracing and investigation into that cluster….
“However, there were individuals who went into some treatment facilities following their release from OCCC, and we have noted that there may be some transmission there that occurred after that,…
State Rep. Bert Kobayashi was more blunt, telling Mersereau that “you might have to think about being tougher. This is an emergency situation, you have an emergency declaration, I don’t see why you should not use that declaration to push inmates who refuse testing to get tested.”
Kobayashi added that “your rights end where my rights begin, so no one really has a right to infect others.”
read … Lawmakers: DOH Needs To Disclose Any COVID-19 Cases Caused By Ex-Inmates
COVID Release—110 Rearrested so far
KHON: … According to the Honolulu Police Department, the prosecutor’s office previously identified roughly 300 inmates who approved for release due to court orders, in an effort to avoid the spread of COVID-19 in Oahu jails.
HPD confirms that as of August 25, at least 110 of them have been re-arrested for crimes, or for violating the conditions of their release–some of them more than once….
read … Inmates moved from OCCC to Halawa as facility continues to deal with rising COVID-19 cases
State Ethics Commission offers new online complaint process
ILind: … The Hawaii State Ethics Commission has a new online complaint form available on its website….
read … State Ethics Commission offers new online complaint process
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