Proof that masking and social distancing work
I would like to correct some misunderstandings in a letter in Wednesday’s edition. The writer is correct that, in Hawaii, we had fewer deaths from COVID-19 in 2020 than we had flu deaths in 2019 or 2018. However, this does not prove her assertion that COVID is no big deal, it proves that masking and social distancing work. In fact, they work so well that we had almost zero cases of the flu in 2020, which is something we could have every year if we took the same precautions that we are taking for COVID. In addition, Hawaii has the second lowest death rate due to COVID. If you want to see how bad COVID is, just look at the “excess deaths” for 2020 for almost any other state.
The writer also complains that the news media are not discussing how boosting the immune system can help prevent severe illness from COVID. I agree with her on this point. While the mainstream media don’t cover this very much, there are many specialized media sources online that discuss things like this in detail. My favorites are MedCram, This Week in Virology, CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy), JAMA News, and UCSF School of Medicine. To summarize their conclusions — none of the vitamins the writer mentions, by themselves, reduce the severity of COVID, but there is no doubt that a healthy immune system will help.
As for her vaccine hesitancy, I urge her to go to the above websites and watch their presentations about the safety and efficacy data that was released prior to the vaccines’ emergency approval by the FDA. There were no corners cut — each vaccine went through just as rigorous testing on just as many volunteers as any other vaccine in the past. The fact that it was done so quickly is simply a function of the advances in genetic science over the last two decades and the high prevalence of COVID in the communities where the testing was done. Efficacy is much easier to ascertain quickly when lots of people in the area are getting COVID. In the cases of the Pfizer and Moderna trials, nineteen times as many people in the placebo groups got COVID and none of the people in the vaccinated groups died or even ended up in the ICU. No wonder people are so happy to get vaccinated.
Matt Binder
Waimea
Funding the waste
of energy
On Jan. 29, I went to the West Hawaii Civic Center in Kona to pay my property tax bill. What I felt there was unacceptable — the air conditioner was on full-blow. It didn’t matter that there was no need for such excess cooling, or for the staff to wear extra clothing. But this just goes to show that the government is always (?) correct when they state, “Do as I say, not as I do.” Do consider that the county is always telling us to cut back on electricity and save money. Yet do you ever hear the same thing said about don’t drive excessively? If I desire to keep my incandescent lights on all the time, it is my concern, and has no impact on the finances of the government. Except perhaps if they get additional income from my use of electricity. But by keeping the air conditioner on in the county building, I, and every other taxpayer is funding this total waste of energy consumption.
Michael L. Last
Naalehu
Revenge bill?
The state Auditor wrote a critical report regarding the ADC (Agribusiness Development Corporation) and House Bill 1 is essentially revenge for ruffling someone’s delicate sensibilities. HB1 cuts the auditor’s budget in half, thereby hamstringing the office. This came one week after the report, so claiming coincidence isn’t going to happen. The House Speaker claimed this was because “the Auditor produced late reports and triggering unnecessary litigation.” If that were the case, then the auditor’s budget should be increased to add more personnel, not cut their budget in half.
Dave Kisor
Pahoa
What can your county
do to you
Don’t ask what your county can do for you. Ask what they can do to you.
The County of Hawaii is ganging up on homeowners who don’t pay their gang-cesspool bills. Gang-cesspools are illegal and the Department of Environmental Management operates one in Naalehu. They send us a bill in the mail. People who don’t pay up are threatened by mail from the county’s Corporation Counsel. All of this is mail fraud and extortion.
To make things worse, our County Council passed an ordinance that allows the Department of Water supply to shut off the water to a resident who pays their water bill but not their illegal sewer bill. This is draconian. Yet, the county gets away with it.
All of this is happening to homeowners who live in old affordable workforce housing. These are old plantation camps in Ka’u. A lien will be placed on the property if the owner doesn’t buckle under. It’s the American way.
Jerry Warren
Naalehu
Letters policy
Letters to the editor should be 300 words or less and will be edited for style and grammar. Longer viewpoint guest columns may not exceed 800 words. Submit online at www.westhawaiitoday.com/?p=118321 or via email to letters@westhawaiitoday.com or address them to:
Editor | West Hawaii Today
PO Box 789
Kailua-Kona, HI 96745
