Coronavirus in Hawai’i

Grand Princess Cruise Ship

So far, there are 21 people aboard the quarantined cruise ship, Grand Princess, who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus. However, only a total of 46 people were tested out of the over 3,500 aboard. The cruise ship is currently anchored off the coast of Cali near San Francisco and will be docking at an unspecified port. All remaining passengers and crew will then be tested for novel coronavirus infection.

The important point to remember is that the novel coronavirus was already present amongst the passengers and crew during the cruise ship’s prior itinerary to Mexico. Thus, the passengers and crew were already exposed to the coronavirus prior to docking at four island in Hawai’i. As the passengers and crew were allowed to disembark and engage in tourist activities, they were in close proximity to other tourists and locals.

Meanwhile, State officials have disclosed that there is now one confirmed case of novel coronavirus infection in Hawai’i. The individual was a passenger on the Grand Princess cruise ship for the Mexico tour. The individual did not continue to Hawai’i on the cruise ship, but flew back on an unspecified airline. Soon afterward, the individual became ill and was tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Currently, the individual is self-quarantined. WTF?

The governor stated that he did not believe that there has been “community spread” at this time. There appears to be severe cognitive dissonance at play here, or there is some kind of feeble attempt to prevent outright panic that would disrupt tourism. Incidentally, only 8 people have been tested at this point in time. That’s 8 out of 1,415,872 people. What happened to the “state of emergency”?

The curious delay tactics and absurd platitudes offered by various local government officials across empire, the latest being Hawai’i, to the possible spread of novel coronavirus infection in their communities can actually be traced back to CDC policies. From the NY Post:

By contrast, the United States had performed a paltry 472 tests by March 2. Further, CDC testing criteria have precluded recognizing community spread because of requirements stipulating recent travel to China or exposure to an infected person. Adherence to these guidelines delayed testing in the first probable case of community transmission, in Northern California, by four days. 

The CDC has expanded indications for testing to include travel to Japan, Italy, Iran and South Korea, but testing guidelines remain biased toward the sickest individuals. 

For those without known exposures, the CDC only recommends testing for severely affected patients.

This seemingly explains the downplaying of the severity of first instance discoveries. Novel coronavirus testing is “free,” but physicians must follow CDC criteria before referral.

A nice dinner at Panda Express® and a pint of ice cream from Target® served as an impromptu celebration for the beginning of what might be a perilous epidemiological journey for Hawai’i residents. The novel coronavirus is here!