How are you managing during this COVID-19 pandemic? What would make life better for you?
I’m thinking I might as well get used to working from home, indefinitely. I made a permanent workspace in the dining room, with a screen partition. It helps me not think about work all day and night. It takes a lot of mental discipline, which is good, I guess. What would make it better for me? Knowing what’s going on with everyone else in the company. I feel like I’ve lost touch. I guess I could text people and find out how things are going. –Jean T.
I have to be grateful for unemployment and my family, since I was furloughed. I try to think positive and whether I should apply for a new job, something more stable. Or, go back to school. I’m giving myself until March to make my next move. Sometimes I wish something would just happen, so I don’t have to think about it anymore. –B. Lee
Managing during COVID? Very challenging to say the least. Luckily, my wife and I still have our jobs, but we’re mostly stuck at home the rest of the time. She’s a little wary of going to restaurants, so we do a lot of takeout. Life would be better if we could go everywhere freely, and travel. I still don’t get why people won’t wear a mask. –Jordan N.
I like attending meetings virtually. No driving, looking for parking (loss of revenues to the City, sorry), looking good with an Aloha Shirt and pj pants. I can do many things between meetings. Loss of personal engagement makes achieving a business deal take longer.
Mayor Rick, I like how you are being proactive. Telling Gov Ige and the public what you would like to do (Tier 3 and open youth sports). Tier 3 criteria was concocted by Mayor Caldwell and you should have the ability to adjust. Move on to Tier 4, we are close.
Life would be better if we can plan for the balance of this year now that COVID infection rates are getting much better although I think we can be vaccinating at a higher rate. For example, DOH says we might vaccinate 70+ by mid March? Why? VA and DoD have been vaccinating group 1c (65+, medical risks, and any essential worker (more than the categories controlled by DOH) since early Feb following CDC guidelines and not State DOH. I agree with AARP that 50+ should be vaccinated now. COVID infection rates would plummet since the most vulnerable would not be infected.
You need to press Gov Ige that Apr 1 should be the date that we can travel inter island without any testing.
Also press Gov Ige that opening the State/Honolulu by July 4 is a worthwhile goal. Why are we not working on a vaccination passport?
We should be pressing CDC for a positive travel ruling since our State/City depends on tourism so much and not wait for their answer. Have CDC give a special ruling for Hawaii? -B. Lee
As a whole, my family has been able to weather the challenges of Covid 19. The most important thing was to identify our kuleana , not just to ourselves but also to our community. As a family we wanted to contribute to the safety and well being of the people around us. We made a plan to mitigate the risk of Covid- (avoid crowds, all grocery and internet deliveries were wiped down with disinfectants outside of the home, cooked home meals to assure it would not be tainted, we started a small garden to utilize all the spare time on hand, etc etc.) We implemented the Prevention portion by adhereing to the protocols set forth by the County and State govts, as well as the Health Departments. Wash your hands, wear your masks, social distance…..The prevention of Covid 19 is not ROCKET SCIENCE. The guidelines and protocols are simple acts that we can adopt as a way of life, just like brushing your teeth, washing your face and combing your hair in the morning after waking. If you are able to mitigate and lessen the chance of contracting the virus, then the Prevention portion becomes easier. The life you save may be your own.
Life could always be better, even before Covid but there has been a lot of good come out of the pandemic, that we can learn from in moving forward. First and foremost, during the initial lockdown, our natural resources rebounded. The UH biology department did a study at Hanauma Bay and found that after 4 months of closure, the water clarity improved by 60% and the amount of fish increased by 38%. This gave us the perspective to think about reengineering our priorities regarding our economic engines. Is 10,000 Japanese tourists, that trample our parks and trails and use our precious resources more important than developing our agriculture industry, that we may one day be self reliant? The virus took a lot of people down to dirt bottom, and a lot of them rebounded with ingenuity and resilience by finding niche businesses that filled the needs of our community while supporting their families.
Life is better in my immediate community. Since Covid, all of the people that live in our cul de sac has got to know each other personally. Society and occupation dictated our routines prior to the pandemic. Today, everyone gathers in the cul de sac to talk and watch the keiki play. We share our food, we share our mana`o and we share our love and kokua when someone needs a hand. We are truly blessed.
Now that the city is starting to reopen and revitalize our economy, my wish is that we do not move too fast. More and more of our citizens are being vaccinated and we are moving closer to herd immunity. I think it’s best to move forward in a slow, controlled manner than to have to back track should the numbers jump drastically, due to the new variants. I know the Mayor is already looking at moving to Tier 4. I’d like to see us stay in Tier 3 til more people are vaccinated and we have a better handle on the variants. Other than that, this mayoral transition is the smoothest in the history of our State. Malama pu, me ke ha`aha`a. -D. Gomes
Managing during this Covid-19 pandemic has not always been easy considering all the shut downs, but it has been necessary and is moving us in the right direction to eventually get back to "normal." I am appreciative of the responsible pandemic management that is leading us out of the worst of it.
But what would make life better? Having easier access to City services would be a blessing.
Getting appointments for things like license renewals and State IDs is next to impossible. Checking the City website day after day only to get the same "there are no appointments available" response is frustrating and time consuming. Only after reading in the newspaper that the best time to check for open appointments was after midnight I signed in late at night and finally was given an appointment option for one day in June. When I signed on again the next morning the response again was "there are no appointments available."
I realize there is catch up for the time City facilities were closed, but what is being actively done to makeup for the lag?
Offices are now open only Monday - Friday, 8:00a- 4:00p. How about opening earlier and staying open later, and on Saturdays? Times when it would be more convenient for us to conduct business in person that cannot be done my mail and does not require many to take time off from work.
I know that staffing and overtime are valid concerns. But what about staffing using staggered work hours and days to enable City services to be more widely available without incurring overtime costs? I've seen this methodology work in other scenarios. Having services more widely available to our citizens would show that the City mindset takes into consideration the needs and convenience of the citizens, and not the other way around.
Thanks for asking .... and thanks for listening. -Y. Torres
Question 1: I'm feeling lucky and guilty at the same time. My family has not experienced a loss of income, as I am a teacher and my husband is doing Covid research so we were considered "essential." However, many people are not so fortunate. I welcome the mask mandates and mitigation measures, and I am happy we live in a community where, for the most part, people kokua and look out for each other. However, it is clear that opening tourism is critical to getting us back on our feet. Even a company like Love's is being impacted by the tourism drop.
Question 2: I supported short lockdowns when hospital capacity was thin, but now I think we need to open as much as possible. Having the proper mitigation measures like masking/etc. is more important than if we have tourists or not. As long as they follow the rules when they leave their hotel rooms, what difference does it make if it is a tourist or resident going to a store or business? It would make life better for me if the economy started to pick up. Also, we recently sold a rental property.
I am concerned about "brain drain" which is getting worse, and the loss of small businesses and local iconic businesses like Love's. It would make life better if we could reverse some of this. -Bonnie T.