Gov. David Ige’s point man on economic and nonmedical logistic response to the COVID-19 pandemic told lawmakers Wednesday now is the time to plan for reopening the state for business.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara, the state’s adjutant general and director of the Hawaii Emergency Management Agency, told the state Senate Special Committee on COVID-19 that 1,100 Hawaii Army and Air National Guard personnel are being activated.
Hara said the guard could be used to support county police, who have the primary responsibility for enforcement of the state’s stay-at-home directive in effect until April 30 and the 14-day quarantine imposed on air travelers. He said they could also be used in other tasks, such as expanding hospitals.
“We have the guardsmen on status, ready to go,” he said.
At least equally concerning has been the effect of the pandemic on the economy. The influx of visitors into the island has been slowed to a trickle by Ige’s order that arriving air passengers and those who fly interisland be subject to a 14-day self-quarantine.
William Kunstman, spokesman for the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, said Wednesday that as of Monday, statewide jobless claims because of COVID-19 numbered 237,048. Some are starting to get their unemployment payments, but others have been out of work for almost a month without income.
Hara said he’s discussed with Ige joining a coalition of West Coast governors discussing ways to open up their states’ economies.
“Let’s say we want to open up flights again,” Hara said. “And if there’s some way we can do COVID testing at the departure airport … then we can be more comfortable with allowing tourists to come in. And I think we can start on the West Coast, build this partnership with other states and say, ‘Yeah, that’s a great model.’ Just today I had that discussion with Gov. Ige, and he supports it.”
Hara praised the Hawaii Tourism Authority for doing “a tremendous job of tracking these tourists … and returning residents to Hawaii — you know, doing the calls and everything else, enforcing the self-quarantine order as they come into the state.”
Not everybody, however, believes enough has been done to monitor those subjected to the quarantine. Hara himself mentioned a couple arrested on Kauai in a grocery store after being warned by police they were supposed to go directly from their hotel to lodging. He said the man, a military member, also faces discipline by the military.
Sen. Kurt Fevella, an Oahu Republican and the lone GOP member of the Senate, questioned the wisdom of “opening up the airport and getting the economy back up and running … when we don’t have the airport and this disease (under control).”
Fevella said police can’t enforce the quarantine on tourists who are still coming to Hawaii.
“What you goin’ do, slap their fingers? Slap their hand? Some of them staying here less than 14 days,” Fevella said, his voice rising. “This is the point that the governor, someone out there in the state, should be calling the airlines. ‘Why, and how dare you guys give them $70 trips?’ That’s a total disrespect to everyone in this room and the state of Hawaii. They’re giving ’em $70 trips to come to Hawaii. That’s a slap in the face for every single one of us here. That’s totally disrespectful.
“Tell me, who wouldn’t take a chance of coming over here, knowing that when they come through the gate they’re going to … keep walking. Three days here is nothing. But the chance of them coming and on the fourth day going home, being sick, infected, is what’s threatening and making a lot of people scared. … But until we can get a hold of that, I don’t know how we’re going to … relax the proclamation the governor made.”
Hara replied the time to plan is now and “at some point, we’ve got to open the state up.”
“And to be able do that, I’ve got to have a plan. That doesn’t mean I’m gonna to do it tomorrow,” he said. “Maybe it’s a month, maybe two months. There’s certain indicators that will tell me I can start relaxing certain policies, that the governor can relax certain policies.
“But I’ve got to have that plan and framework in place. And I’ve got to start now.”
As of noon Wednesday, the state Department of Health reported 13 new cases of COVID-19, bringing the statewide total to 530.
Of those cases, 41 are in Hawaii County, according to the DOH. That’s one more case than was reported earlier in the day by Hawaii County Civil Defense, who said 29 of those individuals have been “cleared and recovered,” and the remaining 11 are quarantined at home and being monitored by DOH.
None of the Big Island cases have required hospitalization.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.