On Tuesday, City and County of Honolulu Mayor Kirk Caldwell announced he is extending a “stay at home” order for O’ahu through May 31, 2020 — with modifications,  and at the same time, taking specific steps to start reopening businesses.  Oahu has had 385 cases of COVID-19, but 322 have recovered.  Oahu has also had 7 deaths.

Caldwell said reopening depends on

-having adequate, targeted testing;

-protecting those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19 such as kupuna or the      homeless;

-practicing adequate social distancing via physical distancing and wearing masks.

Mayor Caldwell announced the expansion of testing for COVID-19.  Caldwell said the City and County of Honolulu will pay around $2 million to purchase between 10,000 and 13,000 additional test kits to do more widespread testing, primarily through community health centers.   Caldwell said it’s imperative to know more about the actual spread of COVID-19 in order to make good decisions about reopening businesses.

Caldwell said the first step is reopening Oahu parks starting this Saturday, April 25, at 5 a.m. for exercise—running, walking, biking, jogging—but not for picnicking, large gatherings, or sports such as volleyball, tennis, baseball, etc.

In general, he said he’s looking at four issues to be considered as decisions are made on reopening:

-Epidemiology – trends of the disease, having more testing, finding a low percentage of positive cases

-Health care system – make sure the system is prepared to handle current and potential future patients with adequate hospital beds, PPE, and ventilators

-Department of Health contact tracing to find out where the virus is and isn’t

-Social readiness, which is dependent on everybody wearing masks and practicing good physical distancing

Caldwell said if the rates of COVID-19 stay low, businesses will be able to gradually reopen.  He suggested that car dealerships and realtor open houses might reopen on an appointment-only basis, for example.