Clusterfuck Redux

Waikiki Beach

Thousands upon thousands of people are already booking vacations in Hawai’i commencing, when the mandatory (by “honor system”) visitor quarantine expires. The State government “duffers” have yet to “hammer out” the final details of the supposed mandatory testing for “super-duper corona” prior to visitor arrivals. They had over three months to prepare. What happened?

In addition, there appears to be a lack of communication about the new requirements. In other words, none of the tourists have been notified that they must be tested for “super-duper corona” and provide proof of a negative test result (within a 72-hour window) upon arrival. Otherwise, the mandatory, albeit unenforced, quarantine holds.

With new cases of “super-duper corona” currently surging across the mainland empire (and internationally), there may be a shortage of test kits in the near future. No contingency plan has been established for that event, so tourists may arrive to discover an unpleasant surprise. Not to worry, all of them will ignore the quarantine anyway.

Luck appears to be the sole reason that Hawai’i managed to evade the effects of initial pandemic. That, and most of the other states were already in “lockdown.” So, travel to Hawai’i was severely curtailed.

There is reason to believe that luck will not prevail when the floodgates of tourism open. While alleged “social distancing” safeguards have been put in place at all establishments, there will be no guarantees in common areas (i.e., pedestrian walkways, buses, beaches). With thousands of people clustered in cramped venues, there will be no “social distancing.” And, in that situation, fabric face masks are entirely useless.

Given that there will be thousands of tourists here, untested and unwilling to quarantine, there will be a spike in “super-super corona” cases amongst hotel, restaurant, and retail workers. Before they are actually detected, they will infect friends and family members. The infection will then surge exponentially in the local population. There will be another useless “lockdown,” even more Draconian than the one expiring in two days. The outcome will be devastating as the pathogen spreads across the island. There will be no escape. The fear of death will become real.