Hawai‘i COVID-19 News Update – May 21, 2021
Aloha,
Here’s the latest COVID-19 news and issues facing Hawai'i that you need to know this week.
Hawai‘i marks the second-highest vaccination rate in the country, but officials are worried that daily COVID-19 case counts aren’t dropping as expected.
- According to the Department of Health data, Hawai‘i marked an average daily case count of 80 and an infection rate of 1.5% this week. The case counts haven’t dipped much below this figure since March.
- Healthcare Association of Hawaii CEO Hilton Raethel said, “We would have expected the infection rate to have dropped off fairly significantly given the number of vaccinations that have occurred. But it’s basically been stable for the last couple of months. And that’s not a good sign.”
- Health officials told Hawaiʻi News Now a variety of incentives are coming in the weeks ahead to entice people who are holding out to get their shots.
- Meanwhile, the University of Hawai‘i says it will require on-campus students to get the COVID-19 vaccination for the fall semester if the FDA fully approves and authorizes a shot.
- Hawai‘i’s total COVID-19 case count jumped up with the addition of 1,600 probable cases as health officials aim to paint a complete picture of the infections in the state. Probable cases refer to people who never received a confirmatory test but are believed to have had the virus because of their known exposure and symptoms.
- In partnership with The Queen’s Medical Center, Maui nonprofit Assistance Dogs of Hawai‘i trained labrador dogs to detect the scent of COVID-19 in human sweat. The dogs are helping to screen surgery patients a week before their procedures.
The state says unemployed individuals must look for work to receive unemployment insurance benefits beginning May 30.
- The Associated Press reports those filing for unemployment will need to report at least three steps they took to look for work – such as filling out job applications, interviewing for jobs and registering at the state’s job site – from May 30 through June 5 when they submit their weekly claim on June 6.
- According to new data from the Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, Hawai‘i’s unemployment rate dropped to 8.5% in April, and the state added 10,000 nonfarm payroll jobs. Hawai‘i’s rate is still above the national average of 6.1%.
- In a bid to help those unemployed amid the pandemic, the Honolulu City Council advanced a measure to create a Job Corps program, which would train individuals for jobs to diversify O‘ahu’s economy in sectors like local agriculture, conservation and forestry, renewable energy and climate adaptation.
- A new survey from Prudential found 20% of respondents switched careers during the pandemic, and local workforce development programs have been flooded with new participants.
- The University of Hawai‘i’s O‘ahu Back to Work program runs on CARES Act funding and provides free job training classes. In all, the program provided 2,200 training opportunities to 1,600 participants.
Hawai‘i hotel occupancy continues to rise month-over-month, and the trend is expected to continue with summer travel demand.
- The Honolulu Star Advertiser reports the occupancy rate at Hawai‘i hotels in April reached 50.8% – the highest statewide occupancy in the past 12 months of the pandemic.
- Long lines at TSA checkpoints and Safe Travels screening areas upon arrival indicate pent-up travel demand is coming to fruition as more than 800,000 travelers arrived in the state last month.
- The interisland vaccination passport program has taken off. Hawaiian Airlines has brought back 135 daily interisland flights after dropping to just 16 a day during the height of the crisis.
- As the islands begin to see leisure travel returning, tourism leaders say the meetings and convention travel market will take longer to recover since these events typically take years to plan.
Gov. Ige isn’t budging on lifting the state’s mask mandate, and local retailers are facing pushback and confusion from customers.
- Hawai‘i retailers say customers – especially visitors from the mainland – are confused after the CDC issued new guidance saying fully vaccinated individuals no longer have to wear masks in most indoor and outdoor settings. In Hawai‘i, masks are still required inside all retail stores.
- According to the Honolulu Star Advertiser, the issue is compounded by the number of national retailers like Costco, Walmart and Target who are also dropping their mask policy.
- Tina Yamaki, president of Retail Merchants of Hawaiʻi, said, “People are confrontational now. We’ve had confrontations, and that’s the sad part about it. No. 1, we’re not doing it because we want to make your life harder. It’s the law. No. 2, we want to make sure everybody is safe.”
- Gov. Ige is concerned about the local backlash to the mandate. He adds, “We put a tremendous amount of effort in getting the message out. We do recognize that for vaccinated individuals it may be OK and healthy and safe to be out and about without a mask, but clearly for the benefit of the entire community, it’s better we continue to wear masks.”
Mahalo nui loa,
Your BG Team