One solution to COVID variants
In my opinion, there is only one solution to keeping the Big Island safe from the COVID variants, which will soon be brought to our island and then we will be back to square one, both economically and medically. All the work and vaccines will be for naught.
We need to adopt the New Zealand model. Get a hotel to become the county- or state-approved hotel for people to stay in to quarantine in until they receive and get the results to require the molecular blood test.
According to the Harvard Health Blog, “False negative results tend to occur more often with antigen tests than with molecular tests. This is why antigen tests are not favored by the FDA as a single test for active infection. Because antigen testing is quicker, less expensive, and requires less complex technology to perform than molecular testing.” With antigen tests there are false negatives.
Then and only then should people be permitted to continue on their journey or to their home. Unless we are determined to keep the new strains of COVID out of our population we will be back to square one. Our hospitals will get overrun and our economy will suffer even more in the long run. How can the whole country of New Zealand, with a population of five million, get its act together and be COVID-free, but an island with only 185,000 can’t seem to do the same thing. I will tell you why, because money rules the day over safety. With all the land we have, this island could produce all the food needed if we put our minds to that project. We could be so much more self-sufficient. So many people could be employed in energy and food production.
Marian Hughes
Waimea
Time to shift priorities
The recent hysteria about climate change and the administration’s plans to combat are misguided. China and India are increasing coal production and imports to generate electricity. China produced 3,523 million tons of coal in 2018, an increase from 3,411 in 2017. India produced 716 million tons, an increase from 692 tons in 2017. Both these countries import additional coal from Australia and the United States.
China produced 29% of the world carbon emissions of CO2. They have ignored the Kyoto Protocol to reduce carbon emissions, increasing emissions by 1,926 million tons. We need the Chinese to reduce their emissions rather than we spend our tax dollars to reduce emissions by an insignificant amount compared to China, India and other countries that are increasing use of coal-fired plants to generate electricity.
We as a nation have more important issues than our CO2 emissions, that require our tax dollars. Time to shift our priorities to help all Americans, not the few who will benefit from constructing wind/solar farms, which blight our environment.
Donald Stiger
Waikoloa Village
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, via email to letters@westhawaiitoday.com or address them to:
Editor
West Hawaii Today
PO Box 789
Kailua-Kona, HI 96745