Mayor Rick Blangiardi held a press conference mid-Thursday in light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in recent weeks to address the community and ask individuals to take "personal responsibility."
“I’m going to ask people to read before they act. There’s lots of information out there. We’re not going to shut down any of the large gatherings right now,” which has been mentioned as a source of community spread.
“Oahu Safe Access is our government regulation of the hour,” he said. “You have a decision to make if you want to go somewhere, whether it’s going to be indoors and there’s going to be a lot of people, whether or not you’re comfortable in doing that. That’s going to be up to you to decide.”
He said they expect the numbers to increase even further. “It’s incredible what we have in front of us. The best thing we can recommend is getting a booster shot.”
Blangiardi referred to the 2019 census, of the people eligible to receive a vaccine, five years and over, the number is 922,124 people on Oahu. “What we know today is 82% (758,000) of those people have had two shots,” which he said, is a mitigating factor when it comes to severe illness and death, even against omicron. He said 88% of people have initiated or responded to the disease.
“Our third doses are lagging,” said Blangiardi. “We are at 25% and that represents approximately 246,000 people. That’s not where we want to be, so the strong encouragement right now, while we choose not to close down or have any more restrictions other than Oahu Safe Access, we are urging people to get that third shot.”
He said health care providers have vaccines available and they’ve extended hours for the public to access the vaccines.
The hospitals are currently full with people who have other ailments. He said three key metrics are being looked at: case counts which he said is expected to grow; positivity rates; and the “bandwidth” of medical care in hospitals.
“The biggest risk is health care workers themselves,” said Blangiardi. “The fact that they could get sick and we don’t have enough people to take care of the people that have to be taken care of.”
When asked about City & County employees, he said they’re keeping employees as safe as possible and encouraging everyone to get a third shot. He is encouraging all to get a third shot so what they’ve done as an incentive is to give everyone who has gotten or will get a booster, a full day off in 2022.
In regard to current sports events and the Hawaii Bowl slated for Dec. 24, Blangiardi responded, “We’re not going to shut it down, that’s your decision. If you want to go to a restaurant, wear a mask. If you want to go to a basketball game, wear a mask. You make that call. The theme for today is about personal responsibility. It’s going to come down to choices.
“To all those people who have not been vaccinated and who are eligible to be vaccinated, please go out and protect yourself. We’re up against something that’s not going away. It’s not a government top-down deal, we’re all in this and you need to make prudent decisions and do what’s best for you and all your loved ones.”