Waiting is not an option
In response to Wednesday’s article, “Trans-Pacific travel: Ready for prime time?”, I have had to travel as an essential worker to the mainland and Oahu multiple times over the summer. While procedures put in place by the government to protect Hawaii residents and visitors from COVID-19 seem to change every couple of weeks, I adapt just fine and so do the majority of my fellow travelers.
Writing only about people that have complained about the procedures is not a fair depiction of what is working and continues to improve. I have been contacted during my quarantine periods, checked in on the app, and while there are some bugs and fixes needed this is not difficult to figure out, and as pointed out in the article is being continually worked on to improve. Similarly, quoting our mayor, Harry Kim, using a couple of examples of cases where the virus has spread, and having “too many gaps” in the current plan to reopen Oct. 15 is fearmongering and could just be the nail in the coffin for the few remaining businesses and individuals that count on our economy improving versus continuing to decline (including government resources).
We can only do the best we can, and practice the guidelines provided by the CDC and we cannot let fear immobilize and destroy our economy further. We should open Oct. 15 with the plan in place regardless of “gaps” and work to improve from there. Waiting is not an option anymore.
Scott D. Mercer
Holualoa
Where is the Aloha Spirit?
Mr. Lono is saying what most of the “silent majority ” is thinking.
There are many of us here that love our president and his family, but showing our support leads to acts of hate for our president (we, the supporters, call it TDS — “Trump Deranged Syndrome”). Trump supporters are cursed at, spit at and hated for being a supporter. We are proud to wear our flag, but the anti-American left make us feel like we have a target on our head. Mr. Lono is right, where is the Aloha Spirit?
When Obama was president, we had to keep our mouths shut and showed respect. Now it’s our turn, let us wear our magazine hats and display our flags, wear our shirts, etc.,
I’m sorry, Mr. Lono and other supporters must endure this “low-class display from the left.”
Chris Danzilo
Waimea
Testing plan far from foolproof
A couple I know came to Kona a few weeks ago. The day after they arrived, while in quarantine, they discovered that several people at the California gathering they’d been to the night before they left had tested positive for COVID-19.
The couple had been exceptionally cautious at the gathering due to their own ethic and, luckily, they didn’t fall ill. But In a similar scenario, a test taken 72 hours before flying would prove useless in protecting Hawaii’s residents if the travelers had been less careful or less lucky.
Janice Palma-Glennie
Kailua-Kona
Life lessons
The coronavirus spike in infection and deaths around the country and in Hawaii reminded me of a question my sixth grade teacher, Mr. Cardell at Washington Grade School in Everett, Washington, asked the class many years ago.
We must have been studying science and he asked what protects humans, a species with no claws or sharp teeth, or even runs fast enough to save itself from animals much stronger and swifter? Of course, for a 12-year-old boy, the answer was “guns, swords, bows.” No, no — our brains have allowed humans to grow to dominance. So obvious, I felt foolish. So foolish that to this day I have never forgotten that lesson. Mr. Cardell was a good teacher.
William F. Johnston
Kailua-Kona
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